The nation's economic well-being depends on the enormous quantities of oil moved safely, efficiently and at low cost by oil pipelines each day. This national infrastructure represents a $31 billion investment in a 200,000 mile long network of technology that is essential to American interests.
Transportation
97% of transportation energy is supplied by petroleum. Petroleum fuels, in the most literal sense, provide the power to transport almost everything in America. Gasoline for cars, diesel for trucks and locomotives, fuel for ships and airplanes - all these refined fuel products and more come from crude oil that is first transported to refineries by pipelines. After the refining process, the petroleum makes a second pipeline journey to distribution centers.
Although pipelines employ a relatively small number of people, the fuel delivered by pipelines directly supports an enormous number of jobs. More than one-tenth of the American workforce is employed in transportation and related industries. These industries - employing truck drivers, warehouse and shipping employees, pilots, bus drivers - run their vehicles with pipeline-supplied fuels. Cars and trucks use about 80% of the petroleum that goes to transportation.
National Defense
The American Armed Services rely on pipelines to do their jobs. The Defense Department buys more refined oil products than any other single buyer in the world, roughly $3.6 billion worth of fuel every year. Much of this fuel is delivered by pipeline. More than 100 Air Force, Army, Marine Corps and Navy installations in the United States have direct connections to the interstate pipeline network so they can get the petroleum supplies they need.
Total Economic Impact
More than 16% of the nation's economic output stems directly from transportation. Transport outlays total over $1.2 trillion each year. Since 97% of all American transportation energy comes from petroleum - and two-thirds of the ton-miles of oil are transported by pipeline - the importance of pipelines to the American economy is clear.
Many American industries also rely on raw materials that are derived from crude oil delivered by pipelines - inexpensively, reliably and in large volume. It is safe to say that a very significant percentage of the economic benefits from core national industry sectors could not take place without the oil and oil-based raw materials made possible by the oil pipeline industry. Almost all the resins and other compounds used to manufacture plastics are made from oil feed stocks. Many medicines are manufactured from petroleum products. Our farmers depend on petroleum-based agricultural fertilizers.
Core National Industries Rely on Pipelines
The following five core national industries could not exist as the national economic forces they are today without the cost-efficient infrastructure support of oil pipelines. In each case, these core industries rely on raw materials refined from oil. Like almost all American industries, they also rely on petroleum-powered transportation to deliver their goods to American consumers.
| Core National Industry | Annual Value of Product Shipments (in billions of dollars) | Employees |
| Food & Related Products | $499.9 | 1,533,000 |
| Drugs & Pharmaceuticals | $98.6 | 213,600 |
| Plastic Materials & Resins | $47.7 | 58,600 |
| Industrial Organic Chemicals | $78.6 | 126,000 |
| Motor Vehicles and Car, Truck and Bus Bodies | $216.8 | 263,000 |
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