Back in the 2nd-3rd century BC. known cases of using natural gas in national economy. So, for example, in ancient China gas was used for lighting and heat. Gas was supplied from fields to consumers through bamboo pipes due to the pressure of the gas source, i.e. "by gravity." The pipe joints were caulked with tow. Gas pipelines in the modern sense of the word began to widely appear at the beginning of the 19th century and were used for lighting and heating needs, as well as for technological needs in production. In 1859, a gas pipeline with a diameter of 5 cm and a length of about 9 km was built in the American state of Pennsylvania, connecting the field and the nearest city of Titesville.

Over the course of a century and a half, the need for gas has grown hundreds of times, and along with it the diameter and length of gas pipelines have increased.

Today, main gas pipelines are pipelines designed to transport natural gas from production areas to points of consumption. At certain intervals, gas compressor stations are installed on the pipeline to maintain pressure in the pipeline. At the final point of the main gas pipeline there are gas distribution stations where the pressure is reduced to the level necessary to supply consumers.

Currently, from an efficiency point of view, the maximum diameter of a gas pipeline is considered to be 1420 mm.

Russia

Today, Russia ranks first in the world in terms of proven gas reserves (25% of global reserves), and the Russian gas transportation system is the largest in the world. The average gas transportation distance today is about 2.6 thousand km for supplies for domestic consumption and approximately 3.3 thousand km for supplies for export. The length of main gas pipelines in Russia is 168.3 thousand km. This length is enough to circle the Earth four times.

The main part of the Unified Gas Supply System of Russia was created in the 50-80s of the 20th century and, in addition to the gas pipeline system, includes 268 linear compressor stations with a total capacity of 42 thousand MW, 6 gas and gas condensate processing complexes, 25 underground storage facilities.

Today, the owner of the Russian segment of the UGSS is OJSC Gazprom.

On September 15, 1943, a gas pipeline with a diameter of 300 mm Buguruslan - Pokhvistnevo - Kuibyshev with a length of 165 km and a capacity of 220 million cubic meters per year was put into operation. On this day, the first gas arrived at the Bezymyanskaya CHPP and industrial enterprises of Kuibyshev. It is with this gas pipeline that the history of the development of our country’s gas transportation system begins.

Today the largest gas pipelines in Russia are:

Gas pipeline "Urengoy - Pomary - Uzhgorod"- a main export gas pipeline built by the USSR in 1983 to supply natural gas from the fields of the north of Western Siberia to consumers in the countries of Central and Western Europe. Throughput capacity - 32 billion m³ of natural gas per year (design). The actual capacity is 28 billion m³ per year. Pipeline diameter - 1420 mm. The total length of the gas pipeline is 4451 km. An export pipeline project was proposed in 1978 from the Yamburg fields, but was later changed to a pipeline from the Urengoy field, which was already in production.

Gas pipeline "Union"— export gas pipeline. The diameter of the gas pipeline is 1420 mm, the design pressure is 7.5 MPa (75 atmospheres), the throughput capacity is 26 billion m³ of gas per year. The main source of gas for the pipeline is the Orenburg gas condensate field. Gas pipeline "Union" accepted for service on November 11, 1980. Gas pipeline "Union" passes through the territory of Russia, Kazakhstan and Ukraine along the route: Orenburg - Uralsk - Aleksandrov Gai - GIS "Sokhranovka" (border of Russia and Ukraine) - Kremenchug - Dolina - Uzhgorod. The total length of the gas pipeline is 2,750 km, including 300 km through the territory of Kazakhstan and 1,568 km through the territory of Ukraine.

Gas pipeline "Yamal - Europe"- transnational main export gas pipeline, commissioned in 1999. Connects gas fields in the north of Western Siberia with consumers in Europe. The gas pipeline has become an additional export corridor, increasing the flexibility and reliability of Russian gas supplies to Western Europe(through the gas transmission systems YAGAL-Nord and STEGAL - MIDAL - UGS "Rehden").

It originates in the gas transportation hub in the city of Torzhok (Tver region). It passes through the territory of Russia (402 km), Belarus (575 km), Poland (683 km) and Germany. The western end point of the Yamal-Europe gas pipeline is the Malnov compressor station (near Frankfurt-on-Oder) near the German-Polish border. The total length of the gas pipeline exceeds 2000 km, diameter - 1420 mm. Design capacity is 32.9 billion m³ of gas per year. The number of compressor stations on the gas pipeline is 14 (3 in Russia, 5 in Belarus, 5 in Poland and one in Germany).

Nord Stream- a main gas pipeline between Russia and Germany, running along the bottom of the Baltic Sea. Gas pipeline Nord Stream- the longest underwater gas export route in the world, its length is 1224 km. Owned and operated by Nord Stream AG. Pipe diameter (external) - 1220 mm. Working pressure- 22 MPa.

The project involves Russia, Germany, the Netherlands and France; Russian gas transit countries and the Baltic countries opposed its implementation. The goals of the project are to increase gas supplies to the European market and reduce dependence on transit countries.

Pipeline construction began in April 2010. In September 2011, filling of the first of two lines with process gas began.

On November 8, 2011, gas supplies began along the first line of the gas pipeline. On April 18, 2012, the second line was completed. On October 8, 2012, gas supplies began on two lines of the gas pipeline in commercial mode.

Europe

One of the world's longest underwater gas pipelines runs between Norway and the UK along the bottom of the North Sea. Main gas pipeline "Langeled" connects the Norwegian gas field Ormen Lange with the British terminal at Easington. Its length is 1200 km. Construction began in 2004, and the official opening took place in October 2007 in London.

Middle East

Gas pipeline "Iran - Türkiye", 2577 km long, runs from Tabriz through Erzurum to Ankara. Initially a gas pipeline "Tabriz - Ankara" with a throughput capacity of 14 billion m³ of gas per year was supposed to become part of the pipeline "Pars", which would connect European consumers with the large Iranian gas field South Pars. However, due to sanctions, Iran was unable to begin implementing this project.

Asia

Chinese gas pipeline "West - East", with a length of 8,704 km, connects the basic northwestern resources of the Tarim Basin - the Changqing field, whose reserves are estimated at 750 billion cubic meters of gas - with the economically developed eastern coast of the Middle Kingdom. The gas pipeline includes one main line and 8 regional branches. The pipeline's design capacity is 30 billion m³ of natural gas per year. Thousands of kilometers of pipes stretch across 15 provincial-level regions and pass through various natural areas: plateaus, mountains, deserts and rivers. Pipeline "West-East" is considered the largest and most complex gas industry project ever implemented in China. The goal of the project is the development of the western regions of China.

Gas pipeline "Central Asia - Center", with a length of 5000 km, connects the gas fields of Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan with industrialized areas of central Russia, CIS countries and foreign countries. The first stage of the pipeline was put into operation back in 1967. For the first time in the history of the global gas industry, pipes with a diameter of 1200–1400 mm were used. During construction, underwater crossings of the main gas pipeline were carried out through the largest rivers in the region: Amu Darya, Volga, Ural, Oka. By 1985 the gas pipeline "Central Asia - Center" has turned into a multi-line system of main gas pipelines and gas branch pipelines with an annual throughput capacity of 80 billion m³.

Gas pipeline "Turkmenistan - China" passes through the territory of four countries (Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and China) and has a length of 1833 km. Construction of the pipeline began in 2007. The official opening ceremony of the gas pipeline took place on December 14, 2009 at the Samandepe field (Turkmenistan). Pipe diameter – 1067 mm. The design capacity of the gas pipeline is 40 billion m³ of natural gas per year.

North America

The first and longest American gas pipeline to date "Tennessee", built in 1944. Its length is 3300 km, and it includes five lines with a diameter from 510 to 760 mm. The route runs from the Gulf of Mexico through Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio and Pennsylvania to West Virginia, New Jersey, New York and New England.

American gas pipeline high pressure "Rockies Express", 2,702 km long, laid out its route from the Rocky Mountains (Colorado) to Ohio. The last line of the gas pipeline was launched on November 12, 2009. The diameter is 910 - 1070 mm and consists of three lines that run through eight states. The pipeline's throughput capacity is 37 billion m³ of gas per year.

South America

Gas pipeline "Bolivia-Brazil" is the longest natural gas pipeline in South America. The 3,150-kilometer pipeline connects the gas fields of Bolivia with the southeastern regions of Brazil. It was built in two stages, the first branch with a length of 1418 km began work in 1999, the second branch with a length of 1165 km began work in 2000. The diameter of the gas pipeline is 410 - 810 mm. The pipeline's throughput capacity is 11 billion m³ of gas per year.

Africa

Main gas pipeline "TransMed", with a length of 2,475 km, laid its route from Algeria through Tunisia and Sicily to Italy, then the expansion of the pipeline supplies Algerian gas to Slovenia. The diameter of the ground part is 1070-1220 mm. The current pipeline capacity is 30.2 billion cubic meters natural gas per year. The first stage of the gas pipeline was built in 1978-1983, the second stage was put into operation in 1994. The gas pipeline includes the following sections: Algerian (550 km), Tunisian (370 km), underwater passage from the African coast to the island of Sicily (96 km), land Sicilian section (340 km), underwater passage from the island of Sicily to mainland Italy (15 km), a land section through the territory of Italy with a branch to Slovenia (1055 km).

Main gas pipeline "Maghreb-Europe" connects the giant Hassi-Rmel gas condensate field in Algeria - through the territory of Morocco - with the gas transmission system of Spain and Portugal. From the Spanish city of Cordoba, Andalusia region, the gas pipeline goes through the Extremadura region to Portugal. The main supplies of natural gas through the pipeline go to Spain and Portugal, with significantly smaller supplies going to Morocco. Construction began on October 11, 1994. On December 9, 1996, the Spanish section began operating. The Portuguese section was opened on February 27, 1997. The total length of the gas pipeline is 1,620 kilometers and consists of the following sections: Algerian (515 km), Moroccan (522 km), and Andalusian (269 km) sections with a diameter of 1,220 mm, an underwater section (45 km) with a diameter of 560 mm, and a Portuguese section ( 269 ​​km) passing through the Spanish Autonomous Region of Extremadura (270 km) with a diameter of 28 and 32 inches.

Australia

Main gas pipeline Dampier-Bunbury, commissioned in 1984, is Australia's longest natural gas pipeline. The length of the gas pipeline, whose diameter is 660 mm, is 1,530 km. It originates on the Burrup Peninsula and supplies gas to consumers in southwestern Australia.

Trunk oil pipelines have entangled planet Earth like a web. Their main direction is not difficult to determine: from oil production sites they are directed either to oil refining sites or to tanker loading sites. It is for this reason that the task of transporting oil has led to the creation of a large network of oil pipelines. In terms of cargo turnover, oil pipeline transport has far surpassed railway transport in terms of transportation of oil and petroleum products.

Main oil pipeline is a pipeline intended for transporting commercial oil from areas of their production (from fields) or storage to places of consumption (oil depots, transshipment bases, tank loading points, oil loading terminals, individual industrial enterprises and refineries). They are characterized by high throughput, pipeline diameter from 219 to 1400 mm and excess pressure from 1.2 to 10 MPa.

The leaders among pipeline transport operators are the Russian company OJSC "Transneft"(its enterprises have the largest oil pipeline system in the world - more than 50,000 kilometers) and a Canadian enterprise "Enbridge". According to experts in the United States, oil pipeline systems have reached their optimal level, and therefore their gasket will be frozen at the current level. The construction of oil pipelines will increase in China, India and, strange as it may seem, in Europe, since there is a total diversification of supplies there.

Canada

The longest pipelines, other than the European continent, are in Canada and are directed to the center of the continent. Among them is an oil pipeline "Redwater - Port Credit", whose length is 4840 kilometers.

USA

The United States is the world's largest producer and consumer of energy. Oil is the main source of energy for the United States, and now supplies up to 40% of the country's needs. The United States has a very extensive oil pipeline system, especially densely covering the southeast of the country. Among them are the following oil pipelines:

- an oil pipeline with a diameter of 1220 mm, designed to pump oil produced at the Prudhoe Bay field in northern Alaska to the port of Valdez in its south. Crosses the state of Alaska from north to south, the length of the oil pipeline is 1288 km. Consists of a crude oil pipeline, 12 pumping stations, several hundred kilometers of supply pipelines, and a terminal in the city of Valdez. Construction of the oil pipeline began after the 1973 energy crisis. The rise in oil prices has made it economically profitable to produce it in Prudhoe Bay. Construction faced many challenges, mainly the very low temperatures and difficult, isolated terrain. The oil pipeline was one of the first projects to encounter permafrost problems. The first barrel of oil was pumped through the pipeline in 1977. It is one of the most protected pipelines in the world. The Trans-Alaska oil pipeline was designed by engineer Egor Popov to withstand an earthquake of up to 8.5 magnitude. It was laid above the ground on special supports with compensators, allowing the pipe to slide along special metal rails horizontally for almost 6 m, using a special gravel cushion, and 1.5 meters vertically. In addition, the laying of the oil pipeline route was carried out using a zigzag broken line to compensate for stresses caused by soil displacement during very strong longitudinal seismic vibrations, as well as during thermal expansion of the metal. The pipeline's throughput capacity is 2,130,000 barrels per day.

Main oil pipeline system "Seaway"— a 1,080-kilometer pipeline transporting oil from Cushing, Oklahoma, to the terminal and distribution system of Freeport, Texas, located on the Gulf Coast. Pipeline is an important link in the transportation of crude oil between twooil regionsin the United States. The pipeline went online in 1976 and was originally designed to transport foreign oil from Texas ports to refineries in the Midwest. Oil was pumped in this direction until 1982, when a decision was made to transport natural gas through this pipeline, but in the opposite direction - from north to south. In June 2012, oil was pumped through the pipeline again. The oil pipeline capacity is 400,000 barrels per day. The second line of the pipeline was commissioned in December 2014 and runs parallel to the first line "Seaway". The capacity of the second line is 450,000 barrels per day.

Pipeline "Flanagan south" put into operation in 2014 and has a length of 955 kilometers, crossing the states of Illinois, Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma. The pipeline transports oil from Pontiac, Illinois, to terminals in Cushing, Oklahoma. The pipeline system has seven pumping stations. Pipeline "Flanagan south" provides additional capacity needed to deliver oil to refineries North America, and then through other oil pipelines on the US Gulf Coast. The pipeline capacity is approximately 600,000 barrels per day.

Pipeline "Spearhead"- a 1050 kilometer oil pipeline with a diameter of 610 mm, which transports crude oil from Cushing (Oklahoma) to the main terminal in Chicago (Illinois). The oil pipeline capacity is 300,000 barrels per day.

The first main oil pipeline with a diameter of 1000 mm in the United States was built in 1968 to transport oil from St. James (New Orleans) to Patoka (Illinois). The length of the oil pipeline is 1012 kilometers. Oil pipeline capacity "St James" - "Treacle" 1,175,000 barrels per day.

Oil pipeline system "Keystone"- a network of oil pipelines in Canada and the United States. Supplies oil from the Athabasca oil sands (Alberta, Canada) to US refineries in Steele City (Nebraska), Wood River and Patoka (Illinois), from the Texas Gulf Coast. In addition to synthetic oil and molten bitumen (dilbit) from the Canadian oil sands, light crude oil is also transported from the Illinois Basin (Bakken) to Montana and North Dakota. Three phases of the project are in operation - the fourth phase is awaiting US government approval. Section I, supplying oil from Hardisty, Alberta to Steele City, Wood River and Patoka, was completed in the summer of 2010 and spans 3,456 kilometers. Section II, the Keystone-Cushing spur, was completed in February 2011 with a pipeline from Steele City to storage and distribution facilities in the major Cushing, Oklahoma, hub. These two stages have the potential to pump up to 590,000 barrels per day of oil to Midwest refineries. The third phase, a branch from the Gulf Coast, opened in January 2014 and has a capacity of up to 700,000 barrels per day. The total length of the oil pipeline is 4,720 kilometers.

Oil pipeline system "Enbridge" is a pipeline system that transports crude oil and molten bitumen from Canada to the United States. The total length of the system is 5363 kilometers, including several tracks. The main parts of the system are the 2,306-kilometer Enbridge section (Canadian section of the highway) and the 3,057-kilometer Lakehead section (US section of the highway). The average throughput capacity of the oil pipeline system is 1,400,000 barrels per day.

Pipeline "New Mexico - Cushing"— length 832 kilometers, throughput capacity 350,000 barrels per day.

Pipeline "Midland - Houston"— length 742 kilometers, throughput capacity 310,000 barrels per day.

Pipeline "Cushing - Wood River"— length 703 kilometers, throughput capacity 275,000 barrels per day.

Largest foreign oil pipelines	Diameter, mm	Length, km	Year of construction
Enbridge oil pipeline system (Canada, USA)	457 — 1220	5363	1950
Keystone oil pipeline system (Canada, USA)	762 — 914	4720	2014
Oil pipeline "Kazakhstan - China"	813	2228	2006
Oil pipeline "Baku - Tbilisi - Ceyhan" (Azerbaijan, Georgia, Türkiye)	1067	1768	2006
Tazama oil pipeline (Tanzania, Zambia)	200 — 300	1710	1968
East Arabian Oil Pipeline (Saudi Arabia)	254 — 914	1620
Trans-Alaska Oil Pipeline (USA)	1220	1288	1977
Trans-Arabian oil pipeline "Tapline" (suspended) (Saudi Arabia, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon)	760	1214	1950
Seaway oil pipeline (Cushing - Freeport, USA)	762	1080	1976
Oil pipeline "Chad - Cameroon"		1080	2003
Spearhead oil pipeline (Cushing - Chicago, USA)	610	1050
St. James-Patoka oil pipeline (USA)	1067	1012	1968
Central European Oil Pipeline (suspended) (Italy, Germany)	660	1000	1960
Kirkuk-Ceyhan oil pipeline (Iraq, Türkiye)	1020 — 1170	970
Hassi Messaoud – Arzu oil pipeline (Algeria)	720	805	1965
Flanagan South oil pipeline (Pontiac - Cushing, USA)	914	955	2014
Oil pipeline "Ejele - Sehira" (Algeria, Tunisia)	610	790	1966
South European Oil Pipeline (Lavert - Strasbourg - Karlsruhe)	864	772
Oil pipeline "Saliaco - Bahia Blanca" (Argentina)	356	630

Latin America

New oil fields have been discovered in Brazil, Venezuela and Mexico. Now these states are fully provided with energy resources, the supply of which is ensured by such oil pipelines as "Sagliaco - Bahia Blanca" in Argentina, 630 km long, oil pipeline "Rio de Janeiro - Belo Horizonte» in Brazil with a length of 370 km, as well as an oil pipeline "Sicuco - Coveñas" in Colombia with a length of 534 km.

Europe

Europe has large oil and gas reserves. Of the countries that are members of the European Union, 6 are oil producers. These are Great Britain, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Romania and the Netherlands. If we take the EU as a whole, it is the largest producer of oil and ranks seventh, as well as second in terms of its consumption in the world. The proven oil reserves of the EU countries at the beginning of 2014 amounted to 900 million tons. One of the largest highways - South European Oil Pipeline, which transports oil from the port of Lavert to Karlsruhe via Strasbourg. The length of this oil pipeline is 772 km.

Pipeline "Baku - Tbilisi - Ceyhan", designed to transport Caspian oil to the Turkish port of Ceyhan, is located on the shore Mediterranean Sea. The oil pipeline was put into operation on June 4, 2006. Currently, the oil pipeline pumps oil from the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli field block and condensate from the Shah Deniz field. Oil pipeline length "Baku - Tbilisi - Ceyhan" is 1768 kilometers. The oil pipeline passes through the territory three countries- Azerbaijan (443 km), Georgia (249 km) and Turkey (1076 km). The throughput capacity is 1.2 million barrels of oil per day.

Central European Oil Pipeline- a suspended crude oil pipeline that crosses the Alps along the route Genoa (Italy) - Ferrara - Aigle - Inglstadt (Germany). The oil pipeline was put into operation in 1960 and supplied oil refineries in Bavaria. The oil pipeline closed on February 3, 1997 due to environmental problems and high remediation costs. The length of the oil pipeline is 1000 kilometers.

Russia

One of the oldest domestic oil pipelines - "Friendship". The system of main oil pipelines was built in the 1960s by the USSR enterprise Lengazspetsstroy to deliver oil from the Volga Ural oil and gas region to the socialist countries of Eastern Europe. The route runs from Almetyevsk (Tatarstan) through Samara to Mozyr and branches into northern and southern pipelines. The northern one passes through Belarus, Poland, Germany, Latvia and Lithuania, the southern one – through Ukraine, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary. To the main oil pipeline system "Friendship" includes 8,900 km of pipelines (of which 3,900 km are in Russia), 46 pumping stations, 38 intermediate pumping stations, the tank farms of which hold 1.5 million m³ of oil. The operating capacity of the oil pipeline is 66.5 million tons per year.

There is also an oil pipeline BTS-1, which connects the oil fields of the Timan-Pechora, West Siberian and Ural-Volga regions with the seaport of Primorsk. The goals of the construction of the Baltic pipeline system were to increase the capacity of the oil export pipeline network, reduce the costs of oil exports, as well as the need to reduce the risks of oil transit through other states. The oil pipeline's throughput capacity is 70 million tons per year.

The largest oil pipelines in Russia	Diameter, mm	Length, km	Year of construction
Oil pipeline “Tuymazy – Omsk – Novosibirsk – Krasnoyarsk – Irkutsk”	720	3662	1959 — 1964
Oil pipeline "Druzhba"	529 — 1020	8900	1962 — 1981
Oil pipeline "Ust-Balyk - Omsk"	1020	964	1967
Oil pipeline "Uzen - Atyrau - Samara"	1020	1750	1971
Oil pipeline “Ust-Balyk – Kurgan – Ufa – Almetyevsk”	1220	2119	1973
Oil pipeline “Alexandrovskoye – Anzhero-Sudzhensk – Krasnoyarsk – Irkutsk”	1220	1766	1973
Oil pipeline “Usa – Ukhta – Yaroslavl – Moscow”	720	1853	1975
Oil pipeline "Nizhnevartovsk - Kurgan - Samara"	1220	2150	1976
Oil pipeline "Samara - Tikhoretsk - Novorossiysk"	1220	1522	1979
Oil pipeline "Surgut - Nizhny Novgorod– Polotsk"	1020	3250	1979 — 1981
Oil pipeline "Kolmogory - Klin"	1220	2430	1985
Oil pipeline "Tengiz - Novorossiysk"	720	1580	2001
Oil pipeline "Baltic Pipeline System"	720 — 1020	805	1999 — 2007
Oil pipeline "Baltic Pipeline System-II"	1067	1300	2009 — 2012
Oil pipeline "Eastern Siberia - Pacific Ocean"	1020 — 1200	4740	2006 — 2012

Everyone knows the oil pipeline BTS-2 from the city of Unecha in the Bryansk region to Ust-Luga in the Leningrad region, designed to become an alternative route for Russian oil supplies to Europe, which will replace the Druzhba oil pipeline and avoid transit risks.

ESPO(piping system "Eastern Siberia - Pacific Ocean") - an oil pipeline running from the city of Taishet (Irkutsk region) to the oil loading port of Kozmino in Nakhodka Bay. Pipeline construction ESPO has already been recognized as unique in a number of indicators, such as length (4740 km), working conditions, unique concern for the environment and an unprecedented synergistic effect for the regional economy. Its main goal is to encourage oil companies to develop fields in Eastern Siberia and diversify oil supplies by connecting large consumers in the Asia-Pacific region. Geopolitical factors also played a role - a number of laws in European countries that were aimed against dependence on Russian oil. In such a situation, it is best to look for new markets in advance.

Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC)- the largest international oil transportation project with the participation of Russia, Kazakhstan, as well as the world's leading production companies, created for the construction and operation of a main pipeline with a length of more than 1.5 thousand km. Connects the fields of Western Kazakhstan (Tengiz, Karachaganak) with the Russian Black Sea coast (South Ozereevka terminal near Novorossiysk).

China

Today China consumes 10 million barrels of oil per day, although it produces only 200 million tons per year. Since the country has few of its own resources, every year it will become increasingly dependent on imported oil and gas. To solve this problem and for its own purposes, Russia built ESPO-1 with a length of more than 2500 km. It runs from Taishet to Skovorodino, and its throughput capacity is 30 million tons per year. Construction is currently underway on the second part to the port of Kozmino (Pacific Coast), while deliveries are carried out by rail. Oil is supplied to China via the Skovorodino-Daqing highway section.

Thanks to the construction of the second string of the pipeline, the ESPO-2 project envisages an increase in throughput to 80 million tons per year. It is planned to launch in December 2012.

Kazakhstan

Pipeline "Kazakhstan-China" is the first oil pipeline for Kazakhstan that allows direct import of oil abroad. The length of the pipeline is about 2,000 kilometers and extends from the Caspian Sea to the city of Xinjiang in China. The pipeline is owned by the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) and the Kazakh oil company KazMunayGas. The construction of the gas pipeline was agreed upon between China and Kazakhstan in 1997. The construction of the oil pipeline was carried out in several stages.

Middle East

South Iran Oil Pipeline 600 km long, it is laid to the Persian Gulf and is an exit to world oil markets.

Pipeline "Kirkuk-Ceyhan"— a 970-kilometer oil pipeline, the largest oil pipeline in Iraq, connecting the Kirkuk field (Iraq) with the oil loading port in Ceyhan (Turkey). The oil pipeline consists of 2 pipes with a diameter of 1170 and 1020 millimeters, with a throughput capacity of 1,100 and 500 thousand barrels per day, respectively. But now the oil pipeline is not using all its capacity and in fact about 300 thousand barrels per day pass through it. In many places the pipes are in need of significant repairs. Since 2003, on the Iraqi side, the work of the oil pipeline has been complicated by numerous acts of sabotage.

Trans Arabian oil pipeline— A 1,214-kilometer, currently inactive oil pipeline that ran from Al-Qaisum in Saudi Arabia to Saida (oil loading port) in Lebanon. It served as an important part of the world oil trade, American and intra-Middle Eastern politics during its existence, and also contributed economic development Lebanon. The throughput capacity was 79,000 m 3 per day. Construction trans-Arabian oil pipeline began in 1947 and was carried out mainly under the leadership of the American company Bechtel. It was originally supposed to end at Haifa, which was then under the British Mandate of Palestine, but due to the creation of the State of Israel, an alternative route was chosen through Syria (Golan Heights) to Lebanon with a port terminal at Saida. Pumping oil through the pipeline began in 1950. Since 1967, as a result of the Six Day War, part of the pipeline that passed through the Golan Heights came under Israeli control, but the Israelis did not block the pipeline. After several years of ongoing disputes between Saudi Arabia, Syria and Lebanon over transit fees, the appearance of oil supertankers, and pipeline accidents, the portion of the line north of Jordan ceased operation in 1976. The remainder of the pipeline between Saudi Arabia and Jordan continued to transport small volumes of oil until 1990, when Saudi Arabia stopped supplies in response to Jordan's neutrality during the first Gulf War. Today, the entire line is unsuitable for oil transportation.

Pipeline transport in Russia has a history of more than a century. Its appearance is associated with the industrial development of the oil fields of Baku and Grozny. At the origins of the creation of pipeline transport was D.I. Mendeleev, who believed that only the construction of pipelines would provide a reliable basis for the development of the oil industry and bring Russian oil to the world market. The list includes both pipelines that have already been completed and those currently under construction.

1. Oil pipeline Baku - Novorossiysk. A pipeline for transporting Caspian oil to the Russian port of Novorossiysk, located on the Black Sea coast.
2. Oil pipeline Balakhany - Black City. The first Russian oil pipeline, built in the fall of 1878 at oil fields in the Baku region according to the design and technical supervision of the famous engineer V.G. Shukhov and put into operation in December 1878. The pipeline connected the oil production area of ​​the Balakhani field on the Absheron Peninsula and the oil refineries of the Black City on the outskirts of Baku.
3. Baltic pipeline system. A system of main oil pipelines connecting the oil fields of the Timan-Pechersk, West Siberian and Ural-Volga regions with the seaport of Primorsk. The design capacity of the oil pipeline is 74 million tons of oil per year.
4. Eastern Siberia - Pacific Ocean. An oil pipeline under construction that should connect the oil fields of Western and Eastern Siberia with the Kozmino oil loading port in Nakhodka Bay and an oil refinery near Nakhodka, which will allow Russia to enter the markets of the United States and the countries of the Asia-Pacific region. The planned total length of the pipeline is 4188 km. The oil pipeline operator is a state-owned company.
5. Oil pipeline Grozny - Tuapse. The first large Russian main oil pipeline made of medium-diameter pipes. Built in 1927-1928 to transport oil from the Grozny oil production area to the Black Sea coast to the port of Tuapse.
6. Friendship (oil pipeline). The world's largest system of oil trunk pipelines. Built in the 1960s by the USSR enterprise Lengazspetsstroy to transport oil from the Volga Ural oil and gas region to the socialist countries of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (CMEA): Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Poland and the German Democratic Republic, located in Eastern Europe. The Russian section of the pipeline is operated by Transneft; Slovak - by Transpetrol.
7. Caspian Pipeline Consortium. The CPC oil pipeline connects the fields of Western Kazakhstan (Tengiz, Karachaganak) with the Russian Black Sea coast (Yuzhnaya Ozereevka terminal near Novorossiysk).
8. Murmansk oil pipeline. Project of a system of main oil pipelines connecting the oil fields of Western Siberia with the seaport of Murmansk. The design capacity of the oil pipeline is 80 million tons of oil per year.
9. Oil pipeline Surgut - Polotsk. The main oil pipeline connecting the Russian Western Siberia with Belarus; Siberian oil is pumped through it to Belarus, from where part of it goes to the Baltic countries and Poland. Length - 3250 km, diameter - 1020 mm, throughput - more than 20 million tons per year.
10. Oil pipeline Uzen - Atyrau - Samara. A unique heated main oil pipeline. It starts from the Uzen field to the Atyrau Oil Refinery, which then connects to Samara or the Transneft oil pipeline system.

World records of oil and gas industry: what, where, when and how much?

Yes. KHARTUKOV, MGIMO(U) of Russian Foreign Affairs Ministry

The reader is invited to the oil and gas Guinness Book of Records.

Oil and gas “Guinness records book” is offered to readers’ attention.

Wells: the deepest…

At the end of January 2011, the Exxon Neftegas company drilled the world's longest (12,345 m) inclined well, Odoptu OP-11, on the island in 60 days. Sakhalin with a horizontal displacement of 11,474 m.

The deepest oil and gas platform (tower type) is located in the US sector of the Gulf of Mexico, moored at a depth of 2438 m at the Perdido subsea oil and gas field, which came on stream at the end of March 2010.

In the same sector, at a depth of 2925 m, is located the world’s deepest underwater oil production system, installed in 2010 at the Tobago field adjacent to Perdido.

Subsea wells drilled in the Perdido-Tobago Silvertip group of fields are among the deepest commercial wells, but the deepest oil and gas well (water depth - 10,385 feet, or more than 3,165 m) was drilled in January 2013 . off the east coast of India. In total, since the late 50s. The depths of the World Ocean that became available for commercial drilling increased more than 17 times, from 608 to 10,385 feet (Table 1).

Table 1. Maximum depths of the World Ocean, developed by drilling for oil and gas since 1958.

... and the most expensive

Offshore drilling for oil and gas in the polar regions is not cheap - more than $100 million per well. So, in 1982 - 1983. To drill the Muklyuk well (which ultimately turned out to be “dry”) from a bulk island in the American sector of the Beaufort Sea in the Arctic Ocean, the Sohayo company spent another world record for the oil and gas industry.

The largest rigs and offshore platforms

The largest drilling rigs mounted on offshore floating platforms are the Aker H-6e drilling systems, produced since 2009 by the Norwegian company Aker Drilling. For example, the first semi-submersible drilling platforms in this series, Aker Barents and Aker Spitsbergen, with a displacement of 56,900 dwt and a working deck area of ​​6,300 m 2, are capable of drilling 10-kilometer wells in water depths of up to 3 km.

In general, the largest drilling rigs are those produced since the early 70s. installations of the Ural Heavy Engineering Plant - UZTM series "Uralmash-15000", one of which was used during drilling ultra-deep well on the Kola Peninsula (12,262 m). These giant drilling rigs, with a maximum height of a twenty-story building and an excellent global reputation, are capable of drilling wells up to 15 km deep.

When talking about offshore platforms for oil and gas production, the world's largest reinforced concrete production platform, TROLL-A, with a height of 472 meters and a dry weight of 683,600 tons, always comes to mind. This is generally the heaviest object ever to move across the surface of the Earth. It was installed at the Norwegian oil and gas field "Troll" in the North Sea in 1996.

The largest semi-submersible platform ever installed in an offshore field was the former Spirit of Columbus drilling platform (1995 - 2000), converted at Canadian shipyards, installed on the subsea (depth - 1360 m) Roncador oil and gas field offshore. coast of Brazil as an operational platform P-36 and soon sank in April 2001. The platform was designed to produce 9 million tons of oil and 2.6 billion m 3 of gas per year, had a length of 112.8 m, a width of 77 m and a height 120 m, weighed 34,600 tons.

The largest deposits

The largest known oil field is considered to be the Ghawar oil and gas field, discovered in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia in 1948 and put into operation in 1951. The recoverable oil reserves of this field are usually estimated at 10.3 - 13.7 billion tons, but , according to some data (in particular, the IEA), they reach 19.2 billion tons. Currently, the field produces about 250 million tons of oil and 20 billion m 3 of natural gas (NG) annually, and it is not yet clear whether it has passed its peak production.

In turn, the largest of the gas fields is considered to be the Iranian-Qatari gas condensate field “South Pars/North Dome” with recoverable GHG reserves of 35 trillion m 3 and at least 3 billion m 3 of condensate, discovered in the waters of the Persian Gulf in 1971 and exploited since 1989

Pipelines: the longest...

The longest of the underwater pipelines is considered to be the two-strand Nord Stream gas pipeline, fully commissioned in October 2012, with a capacity of 55 billion m3 per year and a diameter of 1220 mm2, running along the bottom of the Baltic Sea from the Russian Vyborg to the German Greiswald and having a length of 1222 km . The Blue Stream gas pipeline with a capacity of 16 billion m3 per year, laid from Russia to Turkey along the bottom of the Black Sea at a depth of up to 2150 m (officially opened in November 2005), and a 206-kilometer pipeline from already the mentioned Perdido field (with depths of up to 2530 m), laid in the waters of the Gulf of Mexico in 2008. However, with the planned commissioning of the Galsi gas pipeline in 2014 to transport up to 8 billion m 3 of Algerian gas through the island. Sardinia to mainland Italy, the world record for laying undersea pipelines is expected to “deepen” to 2824 – 2885 m.

The world's longest oil pipeline is considered to be the Eastern Siberia - Pacific Ocean (ESPO) pipeline, commissioned at the end of 2012, with a capacity of about 80 million tons of oil per year. Its length from Taishet to Kozmina Bay in Nakhodka Bay is 4857 km, and taking into account the branch from Skovorodino to Daqing (PRC) - another 1023 km (i.e. 5880 km).

... and the northernmost

The northernmost main oil pipeline is considered to be the Trans-Alaska Pipeline (TAPS), which was commissioned in 1977 with a length of 1288 km, a diameter of 1219 mm and a capacity of 107 million tons per year for pumping oil from the largest field in the United States, Prudhoe Bay, in northern Alaska to an ice-free port. Valdez in the south of the peninsula. To prevent melting and subsidence of permafrost soil (high-viscosity oil from the field is heated to increase fluidity) and ensure unimpeded migration of caribou (reindeer), the pipeline is supported above the ground along its entire length on 78 thousand metal supports. Construction of TAPS cost $8 billion.

The largest refineries and tankers

The most powerful oil refinery in the world is the refinery of the private Indian company Reliance Industries (RIL) in Jamnagar (western Gujarat). The primary capacity of this refinery, commissioned in July 1999, is 668 thousand barrels. oil per day (or more than 33 million tons per year).

Seawise Giant became the largest tanker and generally the largest seagoing vessel built in the 20th century. Seawise Giant began construction in 1979, but the ship was soon bought by Hong Kong tycoon Tung, who financed its completion and insisted that deadweight be increased from 480,000 tons to 564,763 tons, making Seawise Giant the world's largest ship. The supertanker has a length of 458.45 m and a beam of 68.9 m. Its summer displacement when fully loaded is 647,955 tons, its cargo capacity is almost 650,000 m 3 of oil (4.1 million barrels), and its draft is 24.6 m. making it impossible for a loaded megatanker to pass through the English Channel, let alone through the shallower Suez or Panama Canals.

The tanker entered service in 1981 and initially transported oil from the Gulf of Mexico fields. Then he was transferred to transport oil from Iran. In the Persian Gulf in 1986, during the Iran-Iraq War, a tanker was attacked by Exocet missiles and sank by Iraqi Air Force planes. It sank in shallow waters near the island. Kharg. In August 1988, it was picked up and taken to Singapore for repairs (most likely for prestige reasons) new owner, California-based window company Norman International. The refurbished Seawise Giant was renamed Happy Giant. By 1999, he again changed his owner and name - he was bought by the Norwegian Jahare Wallem and renamed Jahre Viking. In March 2004, the giant got a new owner - First Olsen Tankers. Considering the age of the tanker, they decided to convert it into an FSO - a floating storage and loading facility. After refitting, she was renamed Knock Nevis and was then deployed as an FSO to the Al Shaheen field in Qatari waters.

In December 2008, the world's largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) vessel, Mozah, was delivered to the customer (Qatar Gas Transport). The methane carrier was built at Samsung shipyards and named after the wife of the Emir of Qatar. For more than 30 years, the maximum capacity of methane carriers has not exceeded 140,000 m 3 of liquefied gas, and the giant Mozah, from the Q-Max series, takes on board 266,000 m 3 - enough to provide heat and electricity for the whole of England for 24 hours. Mozah's deadweight is 125,600 tons, length 345 m, width 50 m, draft 12 m. From keel to keel, the height of the vessel is equal to the height of a 20-story skyscraper. Liquefied gas transported in five giant membrane-type tanks. The methane carrier has its own gas liquefaction plant to liquefy vapors in the tanks, which ensures almost 100 percent safety of the cargo during transportation. The main engines are two low-speed diesel engines that drive two propellers.

In 2010, the Royal Dutch Shell corporate group unveiled plans to build the world's largest floating liquefaction and LNG storage facility, the Prelude FLNG project. The company has long nurtured and defended the idea of ​​​​building floating storage factories and, it seems, the idea is close to implementation. The fact is that many offshore gas fields are unprofitable to develop due to their remoteness from the coast and difficulties with the construction of gas liquefaction factories, as well as all the necessary infrastructure - underwater gas pipelines, LNG storage facilities, berths for methane carriers, etc. FLNG is a floating storage facility that solves all these problems. The giant vessel will operate in the Prelude and Concerto offshore fields of the Browse Basin, located approximately 200 km off the northwest coast of Australia. The vessel with a displacement of 600,000 tons will have a length of 480 m and a width of 75 m, and the weight of all machinery and equipment will be 50,000 tons.

The new giant, however, will not be much larger than the largest ship to date, the megatanker Seawise Giant (now Knock Nevis). The project was approved and approved in May 2011, at which time construction of the vessel began.

The largest LNG plants

The most powerful LNG production plants are located in Qatar and belong to the Ras-Ges3 complex. The annual capacity of its units No. 6 and No. 7, which have been in operation since the end of 2010 and the beginning of 2011, respectively, is 7.8 million tons of LNG.

The northernmost LNG plant is a plant commissioned at the end of 2007 with a capacity of 5.4 million tons of LNG per year, located beyond the Arctic Circle, on the island. Melkøya in the northern part of the Norwegian Sea, 140 km north-west of the coastal Norwegian town of Hammerfest, and supplied with gas from the undersea fields Snúhvit (Snow White), Albatross and Askeladden through an underwater 160 km gas pipeline with a diameter of 830 mm, laid at depths of up to 340 m .

Highest revenues and costs

Australian oil and gas workers now receive the highest salaries: according to the British recruiting firm Hayes - about $163,600 per year. On the second and third steps of the “pedestal” are workers of oil and gas projects in Norway and New Zealand - $152,600 and $127,600 per year. As for US oil and gas workers, who earn on average 25% less than their Australian counterparts - $121,400 per year - their average salary is only fifth in the world in the Hayes estimates.

Today it is impossible to imagine the existence of any economic empire that abandoned the use of transport networks. The globalization of the world economy has led to the fact that the production of modern technical means became available to anyone large corporation. Now the decisive factor determining price competition, suddenly the transport costs of manufacturers became higher.

Transport is the main link in absolutely any structure: from the production of household appliances to invention spaceships. Freight transportation, passenger trains, military aircraft - they are all united into a single transport network - the aorta, and individual species transport resemble communicating blood vessels. This strange organism is called the world economy.

Pipelines of the world.

The youngest mode of transport, which instantly turned out to be the most popular in the industry of highly developed countries, was pipeline transport. Appearing in the USA at the end of the 19th century, during the development of the oil industry, the first oil pipeline, only 6 kilometers long, became a long-awaited sip clean air for oil and gas corporations starting to gain strength. This is the only type of transport designed exclusively for the movement of goods, and only liquid and gaseous ones. No metals, no passengers - only oil and only gas. On at the moment Pipelines account for 11% of global freight volumes, and this percentage continues to grow.

If you want to learn everything about pipeline transport in the world, it is worth considering that it is built on the principle of delivering gas and oil directly from the production site to anywhere in the world. The introduction of such segments into the infrastructure of global industry has become the least expensive way to transport bulk cargo over long distances. Pipeline transport has become widespread during the development of new natural gas and oil fields located far from areas of processing and subsequent consumption. The advantages of the pipeline network have made it possible to increase the volume of oil and gas pumped while reducing the cost of transportation, which has played a huge role in favor of the development of an extensive pipeline network.

Factors that distinguish the pipeline from other modes of transport:

• Possibility of year-round, virtually uninterrupted pumping of oil over any distance, with minimal cargo losses and costs.
• The ability to fully automate the entire process.
• The process of oil production has ceased to depend on climatic conditions.
• The unit cost of constructing 1 km of pipeline is two times less than 1 km of railway.
• The pipeline can be laid almost anywhere in the world, significantly saving construction costs.

Currently, the pipeline is considered the most profitable type of transport network in terms of its specific gravity and the number of cargo flows. Along with the increase in the volume of extracted minerals, transport routes began to expand. For countries with a vast territory, the development of such transport and communication systems has become task number one. The market for raw materials has intensified and changed commodity structure cargo flows. The world economy began to adapt to the export orientation of the oil industry.

Leaders in global cargo turnover.

You can learn everything about pipeline transport in the world by following its development from the very beginning. The United States began construction of the pipeline much earlier than other countries. Russia, while inferior to other countries in the length of pipeline routes, did not remain in debt, already at the end of the 1990s, having far surpassed them in terms of pipeline cargo turnover. Subsequently, Russia retained its leadership right; the cargo turnover of Russian oil and gas pipelines accounts for almost a third of the world cargo turnover.

The 2005 table shows the high level of development of the countries included in this top ten. Changes, of course, occurred, but not strong ones. Russia is now the leader in the length of pipelines, the total length of the main system is 48.7 thousand km (data from 2006). This giant oil pipeline carries 90% of all Russian oil.

Pipeline transport undoubtedly has great developments in the future, but no matter how practical and inexpensive it is, how will its use ultimately affect the ecology of our planet? There are already a sufficient number of cases of oil pipeline breaks that caused colossal damage. environment. The environmental problem goes hand in hand with everyone positive qualities this new type of transport system, tightly integrated into the structure of the world economy. Don’t forget about it, because the first thing you need to do is preserve life on Earth and the health of all its inhabitants.