Navigating Competition in the Oil and Gas Pipeline Industry

Logistics Transportation Review | Tuesday, May 02, 2023

The growing importance of pipeline transport in the oil and gas industry draws increasing attention.

FREMONT, CA: Most oil and gas transportation activities on land are carried out by pipelines, a critical component of the energy system's transportation infrastructure. For improved planning at this crucial time of the energy transition, a thorough assessment of the literature on managing the transport capacity of pipelines is required.

Energy use and economic growth are inextricably linked. As of this writing, coal, gas, and oil are still the mainstays of the global energy structure. Oil and natural gas comprise 57.5 percent of the primary energy used globally. Pipeline networks are growing as pipeline transport continues to be the most practical and common method for moving inland and near-shore oil and natural gas.

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Centralization: In the US, there is total openness and competition among oil and gas pipeline infrastructures. The Department of Energy is the sole central authority under the single-centralized open management system that the US government has chosen. Centralized energy management and the great authority of energy management agencies define this management system. The allocation of transportation capacity, the management of pipe network system congestion, the balance mechanism for pipeline network systems, and the pricing system for pipeline transmission are components of the integral conception of managing pipeline transportation capacity. Studies mostly concentrate on the transmission price and capacity allocation mechanism design.

Shippers: Trading pipe transport in capacity auctions are important as they correctly represent commodity values in a competitive market since they are frequently employed to exchange pipeline transportation capacity. Multiple businesses manage the US gas pipeline networks. Therefore trading the capacity would result in a low efficiency for pipeline transport. The development of online capacity trading systems, which offer the benefits of focus and timeliness and give system administrators and users the required flexibility, can address this issue. Platforms for trading pipeline transportation capacity can be divided into primary and secondary pipeline transportation capacity trading platforms. Shippers can sell transport capacity they cannot use on a secondary pipeline trading market setup. Secondary capacity is often traded or recycled by pipeline firms or shippers. By using this trading system, the shippers that require transportation always control the ability to transport gas. Otherwise, third-party trading platforms are frequently trusted with this aspect of the firm. The US has created a management capacity trading platform run by pipeline corporations to manage the oil pipeline network. Pipeline operators develop the process for allocating pipeline transmission capacity in accordance with the pertinent rules and regulations, and it adheres to the fundamental principles of equity and maximum pipeline usage.

Although several pipeline firms have created their allocation procedures, the general idea of allocation has remained relatively the same. Unlike the allocation of natural gas pipeline transmission capacity, oil pipeline transmission capacity is divided into two groups: long-term shippers and new shippers, depending on whether there has been previous transportation in the base period or the historical volume has reached a certain threshold. While new shippers distribute through the lottery, auction, and proportional allocation, long-term shippers allocate transportation capacity proportionally based on historical transport volumes.

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