Natural Gas Pipelines

Natural gas is found in many of the same areas of the country as crude oil and is collected through small gathering systems and moved to gas processing plants, where impurities are removed.

There are about 20,000 miles of natural gas gathering lines. The gathering lines move natural gas to large cross-country transmission pipelines. Including both onshore and offshore lines there are approximately 278,000 miles of natural gas transmission lines.

Natural gas, unlike oil, is delivered directly to homes and businesses through local distribution lines. Large distribution lines, called mains, move the gas close to cities. These main lines, along with the much smaller lines to homes and businesses, deliver natural under streets in almost every city and town and account for the vast majority of pipeline mileage in the U.S. – 1.8 million miles.

There are many places on the internet where you can learn more about the natural gas industry and pipelines, such as the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America (INGAA) at www.ingaa.org or the American Gas Association (AGA) at www.aga.org.