Crude Oil Transportation

There are two main ways of transporting crude oil: by tanker or through oil pipelines. 

Oil tanker: 

for about thirty years the oil was transported exclusively in barrels stacked in the ship's holds. In 1886, for the first time, oil was transported by an oil tanker with a carrying capacity of 3000 tonnes. Today, tankers can carry 550,000 tonnes. Regardless of its reach, an oil tanker is nothing more than a gigantic tank-shaped tank capable of floating. To limit these environmental disasters, new tankers are equipped with a double hull. So, in the event of a crash, the outer hull absorbs it, and even if it breaks, the oil remains in the ship with the second hull.

Pipeline: 

Oil, however, is mainly transported through large pipelines made of welded steel pipes, which are largely underground, where petroleum is driven by pumping stations. The pipelines are supported by steel and concrete supports. Before constructing an oil pipeline, thorough ground studies must be carried out on the ground where the latter will have to pass to find the easiest path to follow pipelines. A pipeline must be continually serviced to prevent faults or to repair any leaks. Oil pipelines can transport oil to a port, where they will be taken to a tanker or to the refinery itself.

Watch Crude Oil Transportation: 

Read More → Crude Oil Transportation

Types of Oil Vessels Shipping

One factor you need to consider is whether you are going to get a petroleum commodity exposure through industry, oil transportation is the same vessels. Before investing in a warehouse tanker, carefully examine the fleet of working ships.

To help you in this exam, here are some of the types of ships used in the crude oil-transport global industry:

• Ultra Large Crude Carrier (ULCC): This type of ship, known in the industry as the ULCC, is the largest ship in the market. It is used for long-haul travel. It offers economies of scale as it can carry large amounts of oil over long distances.
• Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC): The VLCC is the vessel of choice for long distance sea trips. It is ideal for intercontinental shipping; its areas of activity are the Persian Gulf for East Asia and West Africa to the United States, among other routes.
• Suezmax: This vessel is called so because its design and dimensions allow transit through the Suez Canal in Egypt. Suezmax is among the vessels used to transport oil from the Persian Gulf to Europe, as well as to other destinations. It is ideal for mid-range trips.
• Aframax: The Aframax, whose first four letters are the acronym of Average Freight Rate, is considered the "battle horse" of the fleet of tankers. Because of its smaller size, it is ideal for short-haul travel and has the ability to transport crude oil and products to most ports around the world.
• Panamax: Like Suezmax, Panamax takes its name from its ability to transit through a channel - in this case, the Panama Canal. This vessel is sometimes used for short-haul trips between the Caribbean ports, Europe, and the United States.

In addition to their captivating names, these vessels are identified as crude oil and products that can carry them to sea. The unit used to capture this capacity is known as the Dead Weight Ton, or DWT. DWT measures the weight of the ship, including all loads it carries. Most ships are built in such a way that 1 DWT is equivalent to 6.7 barrels of oil.

Vessel Type Dead tons of weight Equivalent to Petroleum (barrels)

ULCC            320,000 and up                    2+ million

VLCC            200000-320000                    2 millions

Suezmax             120000-200000                   1 million

Aframax              80,000-120,000                   600,000

Panamax              50,000-80,000                    300,000

Read More → Types of Oil Vessels Shipping

Maritime transport on oil tankers

The shipping of oil on board tankers (tankers and super tankers carrying up to 400,000 tons of crude oil), represents more than half of world maritime trade. One can imagine the consequences of oil shortage on commercial! (On others for that matter ...).

Initially the oil was transported aboard wooden casks (barrels). The barrel has remained the unit of exchange used. It is 159 L. Now tankers are designed as huge reservoirs, sometimes divided into several compartments to store oil of different characteristics (including density). So we can better manage the weight distribution on the ship.

Over the past 30 years, many maritime disasters involving super-tankers have been held. They have caused ecological and economic disasters along the coast affected by oil spills. Most of the cleanup costs and compensation were supported by local e local governments. The Coastal Cleanup is in turn often provided by volunteers.

Since then, new oil transport ships are equipped with double hulls, which are supposed to reduce disaster risks. But they do not prevent the practice of degassing, responsible for oil spill at sea ... The single-hulled tankers still represent the vast majority of the park. 

The gigantic size of the super-tankers creates monstrous consumption of fuel, but which are reasonable compared to their carrying capacity. Currently, more than 600 tankers with a tonnage greater than 200,000 tonnes in circulation.

Read More → Maritime transport on oil tankers

State of the World's Oil Reserves

A simplified figure and relatively speaking: a cube of 7 kilometers from the side, half empty (or half full, it depends), with a leak rate equivalent to the Rhone is the current state of reserves and world oil consumption.

Proven reserves are generally estimated at between 140 and 160 Gt, or 1,050 to 1,200 Gbl. But taking into account technological advances and a recovery rate above 30%, the reserves could reach 266 Gt (or 1'996 GBL). The truth is that the reserves are not well known, and that in addition to proven reserves, it is quite inappropriate to make hypothetical assumptions about the probable reserves and ultimate.

Fairly coarse (and varies according to findings nouvaux oilfields), proven reserves are geographically distributed as follows:

• 55-60% in the Middle East;
• 15-18% in North America;
• 7-8% in Central and South America;
• 6-7% in Eastern Europe and Former Soviet Union;
• 6-8% in Africa;
• 3-5% in Asia and Oceania;
• 1-2% (!) In Western Europe;

I'll let you calculate how many tons or barrels this is by geographic area.

The countries of OPEC account for approximately 75-80% of total world proven reserves. Several sources say, however, that the state reserves of many countries been an overestimate: these optimistic data are primarily used to sit supremacy and economic influence of the major producing countries.

The rise in oil prices led to interest in deposits unconventional oil , such as oil sands, whose operation is known as energy-intensive, highly polluting, and catastrophic for the environment (despite some methods that allow to avoid the creation of open pits).

Global warming also affects some plan to use: the melting of arctic ice led some companies (such as Arctic Oil & Gas Corp) interest in the exploitation of hitherto inaccessible deposits.

Finally, the exploitation of new (types of) deposits appears to be the preferred track to generate more wealth to the detriment of the fight against global warming and more generally the protection of the environment. Or how to cut ever more ardently the branch on which we sit ...

Read More → State of the World's Oil Reserves