Plantation Pipeline

Most of the gasoline, diesel, heating oil and jet fuel consumed in the U.S. East Coast region is piped in via long-distance pipelines from Gulf Coast refineries, but substantial amounts are moved in by ship—either from the Gulf Coast by Jones Act vessels or from overseas. These shipped-in volumes then need to make their way from port to consumer. Today we continue our examination of how transportation fuels and heating oil are delivered to East Coast users with a look at the ports and connecting pipelines that help move these critically important fuels.

Every day, refineries along the U.S. Gulf Coast produce far more gasoline, diesel and jet fuel than the region could possibly use, and demand for these fuels along the East Coast for transportation and heating is far higher than local refinery production. To help bring the two regions into balance, a complicated network of pipelines, ports, Jones Act vessels and storage facilities has been developed over the past 70 years—and continues to be updated and expanded. Today, we begin a new series on how millions of barrels of these fuels are moved between and within the nation’s largest refining region and the region where more is used than any other part of the U.S.