Oil and product pipelines

Pipelines carrying crude oil and refined products on land and under the sea.

Transport · Liquid and gaseous fuels · No. 55

• Transport
• Form: Liquid fuel

When Hormuz largely closed in 2026, Saudi Arabia's 7 million barrel-a-day East-West pipeline became a lifeline, then a target.

Chart: Illustration: Oil and product pipelines

Where it comes from

Chart: Map of where it comes from

Pipelines are buried steel tubes with epoxy coatings. Centrifugal pumps push oil from high to low pressure, booster stations top it up, and pigs clean and inspect the pipe.

Three things to know

1. Oil in a 1 m trunk line moves at about 2.3 m/s, roughly 200 km a day, so 1,000 km takes about five days.
2. Trans Mountain's expansion cost about C$34 billion, raising its fixed toll to C$10.88 a barrel from the C$5.76 expected in 2017.
3. Nigeria lost 36.69 million barrels of crude in 2022, much of it to pipeline theft, then cut losses by 79% in 2023.

The journey

1. 1 InletCrude from fields, ports or refineries
2. 2 PumpsMotors or gas turbines raise pressure
3. 3 Booster stationsRestore pressure lost to friction
4. 4 BatchingPetrol, diesel and jet fuel in sequence
5. 5 TerminalTanks at refineries, ports or depots

Go deeper pick a tab to open it in full