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Transportation of Fossil Fuels

In comparing several methods of transporting oil and natural gas, we find that pipelines generally perform better than trucking, shipping, or train transportation.

Transportion of Oil

For overland transportation of oil, pipelines are generally the safest, cleanest, and cheapest 1 mode of transportation available.

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Source: Clay et al. 2.

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Source: Frittelli et al. 1.

Transportation of Natural Gas

The two main methods of transporting natural gas are by pipeline and by shipping in the form of liquified natural gas (LNG). These methods consume energy, as a share of the gas being transported, as follows.

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Energy lost in transporting natural gas. Sources: Interstate Natural Gas Association of America 3 for pipelines, Nagi et al. 4 for LNG.

References

  1. Frittelli, J., Andrews, A., Parfomak, P., Pirog, R., Ramseur, J., Ratner, M. "U.S. Rail Transportation of Crude Oil: Background and Issues for Congress". Congressional Research Service R43390. December 2014. ↩ ↩2

  2. Clay, K., Jha, A., Muller, N., Walsh, R. "The External Costs of Transporting Petroleum Products by Pipelines and Rail: Evidence From Shipments of Crude Oil from North Dakota". NBER Working Paper No. 23852. September 2017. ↩

  3. Interstate Natural Gas Association of America. "Interstate Natural Gas Pipeline Efficiency". October 2010. ↩

  4. Nagi, C., Appah, D., Chukwu, G. "Comparative Economic Analysis of Gas to Liquid and Liquefied Natural Gas Technologies". International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research 7(6). June 2016. ↩