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U.S. Department of Transportation U.S. Department of Transportation Icon United States Department of Transportation United States Department of Transportation

Oil Pipeline Profile

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Oil Pipeline Profile

FINANCIAL

Excel | CSV

  1960 1970 1980 1990 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
Operating revenues, total ($ millions) U U U (R) 7,149 7,281 (R) 7,711 (R) 7,321 (R) 7,215 (R) 6,890 (R) 7,220 (R) 7,483 (R) 7,730 (R) 7,812 (R) 7,704 (R) 8,020 7,917 8,517 8,996 9,244 9,987


INVENTORY

  1960 1970 1980 1990 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
Number of FERC-regulated companies 87 101 130 150 158 161 160 U U 184 U U U 195 195 197 U U 195 U
Number of employees, pipeline companiesa 23,100 17,600 21,300 18,500 17,100 15,100 14,500 14,200 13,800 13,060 13,230 13,680 12,360 12,500 12,840 13,040 12,770 13,080 14,220 15,270
Miles of pipeline (statute miles)b, all lines U U U 168,364 158,512 177,224 169,435 160,176 157,234 154,361 152,005 154,877 149,614 139,901 142,200 131,348 140,861 147,235 146,822 148,622
Crude lines U U U 87,853 82,170 93,943 89,014 85,953 74,603 69,323 68,073 69,663 69,063 64,336 65,942 46,234 47,617 46,658 50,214 49,585
Product lines U U U 80,511 76,342 83,281 80,421 74,223 82,631 85,038 83,932 85,214 80,551 75,565 76,258 71,310 81,103 85,666 84,914 87,788


PERFORMANCE

  1960 1970 1980 1990 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
Intercity ton-miles, total (millions) U U U 584,100 591,400 601,100 619,200 616,500 619,800 617,700 577,300 576,100 586,200 590,200 599,600 607,500 581,300 557,700 629,900 U
Crude oil U U U 334,800 322,600 335,900 338,300 337,400 334,100 321,100 283,400 277,000 286,600 284,500 283,700 293,500 300,500 266,600 330,700 U
Petroleum products U U U 249,300 268,800 265,200 280,900 279,100 285,700 296,600 293,900 299,100 299,600 305,700 315,900 314,000 (R) 280,900 291,100 299,200 U
Tons transported (millions) U U U 1,598.9 U 1,798.5 U U U U 2,003.7 1,864.4 1,862.1 1,846.8 1,860.9 U U U U U


SAFETY

  1960 1970 1980 1990 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
Fatalities N 4 4 3 1 3 5 0 2 4 1 0 1 0 5 2 0 4 2 4
Injured personsc N 21 15 7 7 11 13 5 6 20 4 10 0 5 16 2 2 10 2 4
Incidentsd N 351 246 180 245 188 194 171 153 167 146 130 (R) 460 (R) 435 (R) 377 (R) 369 (R) 354 (R) 331 (R) 376 338

KEY: FERC = Federal Energy Regulatory Commission; N = data do not exist; R = revised; U = data are unavailable.

a Includes companies whose pipelines carry crude petroleum, petroleum products, and nonpetroleum pipeline liquids.

b Mileages of oil pipeline for years 1960-2000 include regulated and unregulated trunk and gathering crude lines, as well as refined oil trunk lines. Beginning in 2001, data include information for FERC-regulated oil pipeline companies only. For years 2005 and after, total miles of pipeline include both trunk and gathering lines, whereas the individual components, namely, crude and product lines, include the mileages of trunk lines only. Thus, details do not add to the total for this period.

c Injured persons does not include the 1,851 injuries that required medical treatment, caused by severe flooding near Houston, Texas, reported for October, 1994.

d The reporting criteria changed in 2002 adding small spills down to 5 gallons. The change was instituted on Feb. 7, 2002. For continuity with past trending, the data from post-2/7/2002 accidents used in the statistical summary includes only accidents meeting the reporting criteria: Accidents with gross loss greater than or equal to 50 barrels; those involving any fatality or injury; fire/explosion not intentionally set; Highly Volatile Liquid releases with gross loss of 5 or more barrels; or those involving total costs greater than or equal to $50,000.

NOTES

The Interstate Commerce Committee regulated oil pipelines in the 1960s and 1970s.

Data for Operating revenue are only for FERC-regulated oil pipeline.

SOURCES

Financial:

Operating revenues, total:

PennWell Corporation, Oil and Gas Journal: Transportation Special Report (Houston, TX: September 2000 and November 2010 Issues), pp. 74 and 106.

Inventory:

Number of FERC-regulated companies:

1960-96: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, personal communication.

1999: Ibid., available at www.ferc.fed.us/oil/oil_list.htm as of June 21, 2001.

2003: Ibid., available at www.ferc.gov/industries/oil/gen-info/reg-central.asp as of Aug. 26, 2004.

2004: Ibid., available at www.ferc.gov/industries/oil/gen-info/reg-central.asp as of Mar. 16, 2005.

2005: Ibid., available at www.ferc.gov/industries/oil/gen-info/reg-central.asp as of Oct. 27, 2006.

2008: Ibid., available at www.ferc.gov/industries/oil/gen-info/reg-central.asp as of Mar. 09, 2010.

Number of employees, pipeline companies:

1960-80: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment, Hours and Earnings, United States, 1909-94 (Washington, DC: September 1994), SIC 46.

1990-94: Ibid., Hours and Earnings, United States, 1988-1996 (Washington, DC: July 1996), SIC 46.

1995-98: Ibid., SIC 46, available at www.bls.gov as of Apr. 19, 1999.

1999-2001: Ibid., SIC 46, available at http://www.bls.gov/oes/oes_doc.htm, as of Feb. 22, 2010.

2002-09: Ibid, Occupational Employment Statistics, NAICS 486100 and 486900, available at http://www.bls.gov/oes/oes_doc.htm, as of Aug. 11, 2011.

Miles of pipeline (statute miles), all lines:

1990-2004: Eno Transportation Foundation, Inc., Transportation In America 2007 (Washington, DC: 2007), p. 42.

2005-09: PennWell Corporation, Oil and Gas Journal: Transportation Special Report (Houston, TX), p. 76 and similar table in earlier editions.

Performance:

Intercity ton-miles:

Association of Oil Pipe Lines, Shifts in Petroleum Transportation (Washington, DC: January 2011), tables 1, 2 and 3, available at http://www.aopl.org/publications/ as of Aug. 12, 2011.

Tons transported:

1990-2004: Eno Transportation Foundation, Inc., Transportation In America 2007 (Washington, DC: 2007), p. 60.

Safety:

1970 and 1980: U.S. Department of Transportation, Research and Special Programs Administration, Office of Pipeline Safety, personal communication.

1990-2009: U.S. Department of Transportation, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, Office of Pipeline Safety, Hazardous Liquid Pipeline Operators Accident Summary Statistics (Annual Issues), available at http://ops.dot.gov/stats/lq_sum.htm as of Aug. 12, 2011.