Both crude oil and natural gas can be transported by truck, rail car or ship.Crude Oil
Where there are no gathering systems in place, or where a gathering system is not connected to trunk lines, trucks may be used to transport the crude oil to a terminal where it is offloaded into a pipeline.Train cars are used if the distances are great.
Large ships, called supertankers, carry oil from oilfields around the world to refineries and markets in Asia, North America and Europe. The largest super tanker was the Knock Nevis which measures 458 metres by 69 metres (1,504 feet by 226 feet) and weighs 647,955 tonnes (714,250 tons) when fully loaded with 650,000 cubic metres (4.1 millon barrels) of crude oil.
Natural GasIn its gaseous state, natural gas occupies enormous volumes which would be expensive to transport. To move it more efficiently by sea, it is cooled to -162.2°C (-260°F) which converts the natural gas to a liquid (liquefied natural gas or LNG) and reduces its volume by 600 times. Double-hulled ships are used both for safety reasons and to provide space for insulation. Once the LNG has reached its port of destination, it is either stored as LNG, transferred to trucks or rail cars designed and equipped for LNG, or, most commonly in North America, regasified for transport via pipeline. For more information on LNG, go to LNG Overview on the Canadian Centre for Energy Information portal www.centreforenergy.com