Oil and Gas Pipe Construction for Efficient Transportation

Development of pipeline transport is unclear, and there is uncertainty when the first oil pipeline was built although during the late 1800's a six mile wrought iron pipeline was built from an oil field to a railway station in Pennsylvania.

Pipelines are one the most economical ways to transport huge quantities of gas and oil products across land. Natural gas is methane which is found mixed with other gases in nature and comprises mainly of butane and propane. Natural gases are wet gases such as butane and LP gas and when under light pressure become liquids.

Such processing facilities can be found mostly in oil fields for easy transportation via pipeline, rail or trucking. Propane can be utilized as a fuel to heat various facilities in oil fields that are used by equipment, trucks and drillers in the oil field. After propane gas had been converted to liquid under 40 PSA light pressure, it can then be use in trucks and cars at retail stations. Oil and gas pipe construction companies use mainly steel or plastic tubes which are typically buried at depths of around 1.8 meters.

A variety of different protective methods are used in order to protect these pipes from corrosion, abrasion and impact. Such protective measure can include concrete coating, sand padding, wood lagging, padding machines, high density polyethylene or rock shield. Statistics have revealed that around 60% of propane-butane is produced from gas fields and 40% is produced in oil refineries once a barrel of oil is refined into different products.

Both propane and butane used as motor fuel will bring drilling companies much higher value. Construction companies can explore wet gas fields, which will bring in greater returns as opposed to dry gas wells. To avoid delays, many large oil producers are now running pipelines which are helping to produce shorter distances from the gas or oil source to the consumer. In comparison to transporting these products by railroad, pipelines offer a higher capacity and lower cost per unit. Even though pipelines can be constructed under the sea, the process is technically and economically demanding, this is why tanker ships transport majority of oil. Constructing pipelines means refineries can lower wholesale prices of diesel fuel, jet fuel, home heating oil and petrol, and make a higher profit than they are presently.