Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS)
Printable Version

Table 1-51. Crude Oil and Petroluem Products Transported in the United States by Mode

Excel | CSV

  1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 1996 1997 1998
Crude Oil Ton-miles (billions)                
Pipelinesa 288.0 362.6 334.4 334.8 335.9 338.3 337.4 334.1
Water carriers 40.6 c387.4 449.2 291.2 247.7 202.4 147.3 117.9
Motor carriersb 1.4 2.5 1.8 1.5 1.7 1.7 1.7 1.6
Railroads 1.5 0.5 0.8 0.7 0.8 0.8 0.5 0.5
Total 331.5 753.0 786.2 628.2 586.0 543.2 486.9 454.1
% of total                
Pipelinesa 86.9 48.2 42.5 53.3 57.3 62.3 69.3 73.6
Water carriers 12.2 51.4 57.2 46.4 42.3 37.3 30.3 26.0
Motor carriersb 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3
Railroads 0.5 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1
Refined Petroleum Products Ton-miles (billions)                
Pipelinesa 219.0 225.6 229.9 249.3 265.2 280.9 279.1 285.7
Water carriers 257.4 230.4 141.2 157.8 153.2 154.1 148.3 147.1
Motor carriersb 26.2 24.3 26.9 28.2 24.6 28.0 26.0 26.7
Railroads 12.6 12.0 11.3 13.3 15.9 16.0 16.2 16.2
Total 515.2 492.3 409.3 448.6 458.9 479.0 469.6 475.7
% of total                
Pipelinesa 66.1 30.0 29.2 39.7 45.3 51.7 57.3 62.9
Water carriers 77.6 30.6 18.0 25.1 26.1 28.4 30.5 31.0
Motor carriersb 7.9 5.0 3.4 4.5 5.3 5.9 5.3 5.9
Railroads 3.8 1.6 2.7 2.1 2.7 2.9 3.5 3.4
Combined Crude and Petroleum Products Ton-miles (billions)                
Pipelinesa 507.0 588.2 564.3 584.1 601.1 619.2 616.5 619.8
Water carriers 298.0 c617.8 590.4 449.0 400.9 356.5 295.6 265.0
Motor carriersb 27.6 26.8 28.7 29.7 26.3 29.7 27.7 28.3
Railroads 14.1 12.5 12.1 14.0 16.6 16.8 16.7 16.7
Total 846.7 1,245.3 1,195.5 1,076.8 1,044.9 1,022.2 956.5 929.8
% of total                
Pipelinesa 59.9 47.2 47.2 54.2 57.5 60.6 64.5 66.7
Water carriers 35.2 49.6 49.4 41.7 38.4 34.9 30.9 28.5
Motor carriersb 3.3 2.2 2.4 2.8 2.5 2.9 2.9 3.0
Railroads 1.7 1.0 1.0 1.3 1.6 1.6 1.8 1.8

a The amount carried by pipeline is based on ton-miles of crude and petroleum products for federally regulated pipelines (84%), plus an estimated breakdown of crude and petroleum products for the ton-miles for pipelines not federally regulated (16%).
b The amount carried by motor carriers is estimated.
c Reflects the entrance between 1975 and 1980 of the Alaska pipeline, moving crude petroluem for water transportation to U.S. refineries.

SOURCES: 1975: Association of Oil Pipe Lines, Shifts in Petroleum Transportation (Washington, DC: Annual issues), table 6. 1980-98: Ibid., Shifts in Petroleum Transportation (Washington, DC: Annual issues), table 3.