According to the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, Canadians consumed 270,540 cubic metres (1.70 million barrels) of crude oil and petroleum products and 188.6 million cubic metres (6.7 billion cubic feet) of natural gas per day in 2006. Combined, crude oil and natural gas accounted for 68 per cent of Canada’s primary energy consumption.Similarly, according to the United States Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration, the United States consumed 3.3 million cubic metres (20.6 million barrels) of crude oil and petroleum products and 1.7 billion cubic metres (60.0 billion cubic feet) of natural gas per day in 2006. Combined, crude oil and natural gas accounted for 62.7 per cent of the United States’ primary energy consumption.Because crude oil and natural gas fields are often far from refineries and processing plants, and farther still from consumers, pipelines are necessary to transport raw materials from their source to refineries and gas processing facilities and then to market.While other forms of transportation are available, pipelines provide a safe, economical and constant flow of crude oil, natural gas and petroleum products. CEPA’s member companies transport 97 per cent of the crude oil and natural gas produced in Canada. In 2006, this represented approximately 413,400 cubic metres (2.6 million barrels) of crude oil and equivalent and 480 million cubic metres (16.6 billion cubic feet) of natural gas per day. CEPA members operate more than 100,000 kilometres of pipeline in Canada and the United States.