Friday, August 26, 2016

Difficulties Facing Crude Oil Transportation

By Stephanie Patterson


The petroleum industry has seen many difficulties in transporting of crude oil from the port or oil well to the refineries. The challenges are random regardless the method of transporting that has been utilized. The increased production and demand for this commodity has led to increased challenges in crude oil transportation which if not brought under control promptly, they will end up causing accidents that are fatal.

The four main means of transportation are railway, pipeline, trucks and water tankers. These methods have been in the industry with the experts stating that these methods can never be replaced despite the challenges faced, they still serve the industry well in different capacities. More so, there are instances that they complement each other making transportation swiftly.

If you want to ensure that the oil is moved from one place to another without facing any disturbances, then it is advisable to use the pipeline which has been using for a very long time. However, it is extremely slow as compared to the railway. More so, spillages cannot be detected in good time since the pipes are underground where no one can be able to see making the spillage adverse.

Carrying it in water using tankers is a good idea especially if one needs to take large amounts in a single trip. However, these are the problem of spillages in the water. The spillage is tough to handle as it spreads very fast over large areas. Hampering aquatic life. Additionally, it is only restricted in places adjacent to water bodies if not they will need other forms of carriage.

The railway is a unique mode of shipping this commodity since it can carry considerable large amounts of it over long distances at considerable short periods of time. However, there is a difficulty of frequent accidents that have been facing this transporting mode. In most cases, such accidents lead to explosions that cause a fire.

There is another risk move by most companies where they opt to keep the route of transporting the product a secret. This is typically done as a measure to ensure that no terrorist or any group with a bad motive can locate the cargo. The worst is when an accident occurs. More people will end up dying and more property destroyed since emergency responders take a lot of time to locate them.

The commonest means is a road where trucks are used to move this precious but dangerous commodity. It is very dangerous since roads are used by very many different people. More so these roads may not be designed to allow being used by such trucks making collision very common. Such accidents will lead to property destruction and death of the many who are around.

The challenges mentioned are very much felt but still there will be no time that these methods will end up getting a perfect replacement since they are irreplaceable. The way towards making them safe is by ensuring there are strict measures that are kept in place to ensure that such ordeals never happen again in the future.




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