Transportation, terminals and pipelines

Storing, moving and delivering fuel to the end user is a very important element in the economics of the downstream oil industry.

Terminals

The UK has 42 coastal and 21 inland storage terminals, often near major urban centres, ready to supply consumers across the country with the vital products they need. A typical large terminal is now highly automated and integrated, making use of such technologies to efficiently control orders, stocks, invoicing and the scheduling of tanker deliveries.

Pipelines

The UK is criss-crossed by a vast network of pipelines, owned either by individual companies or as joint ventures. An efficient and safe means of moving large volumes of refined products from refineries to storage terminals, pipelines transport over 30 million tonnes of fuels each year across the UK, equivalent to about one million road tanker journeys.

The UK has 42 coastal and 21 inland storage terminals, often near major urban centres, ready to supply consumers across the country with the vital products they need.

Sea

An alternative to pipelines for moving large volumes of product is by coastal tanker, which are generally small enough to navigate shallower waters and dock at coastal ports.

Rail

Rail connections at a number of UK refineries allow large quantities of refined products to be transported to rail-fed terminals across the country, enabling their distribution closer to areas of major consumption.

Road

As we move to the consumer end of the supply chain, road transport is the preferred method for the delivery of most products to the end user, be it an industrial customer or a filling station. The biggest tankers for fuels tend to be articulated lorries with capacity to carry around 40,000 litres with specialist tankers used to convey products such as bitumen, fuel oil and LPG.