Fast Facts

There are approximately 580,000 kilometres of pipeline in Canada.

Pipelines in Canada have the best track record for safety than other modes of transportation used to move energy products, such as marine shipping, railway, aircraft and truck transport.

Approximately 2.65 million barrels of crude oil and equivalent per day travel through Canada’s crude oil pipeline network.

Approximately 17.1 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day travel through Canada’s natural gas pipeline network.

Oil travels through a pipeline at four to eight kilometers per hour, which is roughly walking speed. It may take a month or more to carry crude oil to different customers.

Compressed at up to 100 times the pressure of the atmosphere, natural gas moves up to 40 kilometres per hour, which is approximately the speed of an Olympic runner. Traveling from Alberta to Southern Ontario in about six days.

The devices used to clean and inspect the insides of pipelines are called “pigs” because the early models reportedly squealed like a piglet as they moved through the pipe. Pigs originally were just cleaning devices, with scrapers to remove wax buildup, but electronic devices were later added to create “smart pigs” for pipeline inspection.

Offshore pipelines, such as those used for natural gas off the coast of Nova Scotia, are laid in trenches on the bottom of the ocean.

The proposed Mackenzie Gas Project will carry 1.2 Bcf/day of natural gas from the Mackenzie Delta to northern Alberta via a 758-mile pipeline. The pipeline has the potential to be expanded up to 1.9 Bcf/day and is expected to be in service in 2011/2012.

A 1,400-mile portion of the proposed 2,140-mile Alaska Gas Pipeline would pass through Canada, possibly running through the Yukon, then into British Columbia and linking into an existing pipeline network in Alberta.