Since the time of the first commercially drilled oil
operation in the 1800s, oil has become a resource of astronomical
importance to the modern society of the United States. Along with the
soaring demand for oil arrived the need for an efficient means of storing
and transporting this valuable resource to the homes and industrial
facilities which use it for energy and the production of a multitude of
consumer products.
Today, oil is discovered and produced from the earth in large quantities
by companies such as Western Pipeline
Corporation and transported to refineries, where it is treated and
transported once again to residential and industrial consumers. Oil may
be transported for thousands of miles by pipeline, truck, tanker, barge,
train, or a combination of these means before it reaches its final
destination. The transportation of oil is a highly specialized operation
which requires meticulous coordination among the various levels of the
supply chain.
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In the 1940s, custom built tanker trucks were the primary means of
transporting oil from the site of production to refineries, where it
could be refined or shipped to further destinations via railroad. Tankers
which transport oil have since become increasingly complex, as have the
requirements for the operators who drive them. The use of tanker trucks
remains a valuable component of the oil supply chain today, though it is
no longer the primary means of transporting large volumes of oil.
As more oil fields began to be discovered and produced, technological
advances also allowed for increasing amounts of oil to be produced from
producing reservoirs. The limited amount of oil that could be transported
at once made large volume tanker truck shipments uneconomical for
transporting mass amounts of oil. With increasing volumes of oil being
produced, the demand for an efficient means of transporting large
quantities of the resource became apparent, and the notion of using
pipelines as a means of transporting oil evolved.
As pipelines have become the most efficient means of transporting oil
over long distances, they have also become safer and more technologically
advanced. Pipelines now facilitate the transport of crude oil over vast
distances, traversing rugged mountains, valleys and rivers and utilizing
precisely engineered pump systems to regulate the movement of products
through them.
Today, over 100,000 miles of pipeline transport foreign and domestic
crude oil throughout the United States to meet the extensive demand for
products such as gasoline and electricity.
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