Oil industry Cushing, Oklahoma

1 oil industry

1.1 operators
1.2 transhipment point west texas intermediate (wti) oil
1.3 oil futures designated delivery point in us
1.4 cushing storage hub bottleneck
1.5 oil industry , seismic activity

oil industry
operators

enbridge crude oil tank farm has maximum storage capacity of 20,060,000 barrels (3,189,000 m) (2010)



the stairs give relative perspective of size of massive storage tanks in cushing

cushing vital transshipment point many intersecting pipelines, storage facilities , easy access refiners , suppliers. crude oil flows inbound cushing directions , outbound through dozens of pipelines. in 2005, crude oil , refined products in u.s. transported interconnected pipeline systems. in oklahoma, 8 private companies operated pipelines , operated oil terminals , refineries: enbridge; enterprise products; explorer pipeline; jayhawk; magellan midstream partners; plains american pipeline; sunoco; , valero energy.

the crude oil tanks around cushing have approximately 85 million barrels of storage capacity. on october 28, 2016, tanks held total of 58.5 million barrels of oil.

a partial list of tank farm owners @ cushing are:

magellan midstream partners, 7,800,000 barrels (1,240,000 m) of storage, formerly owned bp.
enbridge energy partners, 20,060,000 barrels (3,189,000 m) of storage.
enterprise products, 3,100,000 barrels (490,000 m) of storage.
jp energy, 3,000,000 barrels (480,000 m) of storage.
plains american pipeline, 20,000,000 barrels (3,200,000 m) of storage.
semgroup, 7,600,000 barrels (1,210,000 m) of storage @ rose rock midstream cushing terminal.

a partial list of pipelines connections @ cushing are:

basin oil pipeline, operated plains american pipeline, flows wichita falls, texas connecting various fields in texas.
centurion pipeline, flows permian basin fields in west texas , southeast new mexico.
hawthorn pipeline, operated hawthorn oil transportation, 17-mile pipeline stroud, oklahoma rail unloading facility receives oil stanley, north dakota eog resources.
glass mountain pipeline, operated rose rock midstream (semgroup), flows fields in west , north-central oklahoma.
great salt plains pipeline, operated jp energy, flows fields around cherokee, oklahoma, formerly owned parnon gathering.
keystone pipeline, operated transcanada, flows hardisty, alberta (canada) intermediatery hub in cushing port arthur, texas. has maximum capacity of 590,000 barrels per day (94,000 m/d). keystone termination located @ oil tank farm near patoka, illinois.
mississippian lime pipeline, operated plains american pipeline, flows fields in northern oklahoma , southern kansas.
paa medford pipeline, operated plains american pipeline, fields around medford, oklahoma.
pony express pipeline, operated tallgrass energy partners, flows fields around guernsey, wyoming. connects ponca city refinery. has capacity of 230,000 barrels per day (37,000 m/d) , capable of increasing 400,000 barrels per day (64,000 m/d).
seaway pipeline, operated enbridge , enterprise products, dual pipeline flows out freeport, texas. has maximum capacity of 850,000 barrels per day (135,000 m/d).
semcrude pipeline system, operated rose rock midstream (semgroup), flows fields in kansas , northern oklahoma.
spearhead pipelines, operated enbridge, pipelines flows enbridge mainline system near flanagan, illinois. has maximum capacity of 125,000 barrels per day (19,900 m/d). second pipeline, flanagan south, parallels spearhead. third enbridge pipeline connects wood river refinery in roxana, illinois.
white cliffs pipeline, operated rose rock midstream, flows fields around platteville, colorado.

transhipment point west texas intermediate (wti) oil

cushing delivery point west texas intermediate, blend of light sweet crude oil streams traded on new york mercantile exchange

cushing s strategic position major hub in oil supply led wti’s development significant physical market price reference or benchmark on 3 decades.

in 2005 cushing described significant trading hub crude oil in north america, connecting gulf coast suppliers northern consumers.

in 2006, production increases canadian oil sands, 1 pipeline reversed direction, bringing crude cushing hub, rather delivering crude cushing oil refineries.

by 2007 cushing held 5 10 percent of total u.s. crude inventory. signs made of pipe , valve on major highways near town proclaim cushing pipeline crossroads of world , , town surrounded several tank farms.

oil futures designated delivery point in us

on april 13, 2007, now-defunct lehman brothers released study claimed west texas intermediate (wti) crude @ cushing no longer accurate gauge of world oil prices. may 2007, cushing s inventory fell 35% oil-storage trade heated up.

oil giant bp, , energy-transport , logistics firms enbridge energy partners (an affiliate of canada s enbridge), plains american pipeline , semgroup owned of oil storage tanks in cushing in october 2007.

oil storage became big business in 2008 , 2009, when supply glut in oil market led situation oil futures higher priced spot price. many participants—including wall street giants, such morgan stanley, goldman sachs, , citicorp—turned sizeable profits sitting on tanks of oil. institutional investors bet on future of oil prices through financial instrument known oil futures, in investors contractually agree buy or sell oil @ set date in future. investors can choose take profits or losses prior oil-delivery date. alternatively, can leave contract in place , take physical delivery of oil @ officially designated delivery point in united states; delivery point cushing.

on july 13, 2010, bp announced sell assets in cushing magellan midstream partners.

cushing storage hub bottleneck

the bottleneck @ cushing s giant storage hub distorted benchmark u.s. oil prices many years. in 2007 large stockpile of oil @ facility caused largely because valero energy corp. s mckee refinery near sunray, texas, temporarily shut down. refinery closed, crude oil prices artificially depressed @ cushing pricing point. eagle north pipeline reactivated in 2010, added offtake capacity cushing connecting valero s oil refinery in ardmore, oklahoma cushing s cheap crude oil. should have resulted in boosting wti prices discounted against brent crude oil because of glut.

in march 2013 valero energy corp. s (vlo) mckee refinery in sunray, texas closed 5 weeks planned maintenance.

oil industry , seismic activity

in october 2014 2 moderate-sized earthquakes (mw 4.0 , 4.3) struck south of cushing, below 1 of largest crude oil storage facility , gas pipeline transportation hubs in world. system includes operational sections of keystone pipeline.

on 6 november 2016, around 7:44 pm, 5.0 mw earthquake rattled north-central oklahoma. quake centered 1 mile west of cushing. sixth 5.0 magnitude or higher strike state since 1882. 3 of larger quakes occurred in 2016, , strongest ever recorded in oklahoma 5.8 magnitude hit pawnee (25 miles cushing) in september.

according george choy, geophysicist u.s. geological survey, oklahoma has had severe spike in earthquakes of 3.0 magnitude or higher since 2008. number of 3.0 magnitude quakes rose 2 in 2008 889 in 2015, according usgs statistics. in 2016, there have been 572 (up november). oil companies have said long time these natural earthquakes, have occurred anyway, choy said, when @ statistics, argument not fly.

analysis of spatial distribution of earthquakes , regional moment tensor focal mechanisms indicated reactivation of subsurface unmapped strike-slip fault. discovery stoked fears among scientists other unknown faults triggered oil , gas wastewater being injected deep underground. coulomb failure stress change calculations indicated wilzetta fault zone south of cushing produce large, damaging earthquake comparable 2011 oklahoma earthquake @ prague, oklahoma.

much of production, using new horizontal drilling techniques, produces @ high rates, high water-to-oil ratios. many of disposal wells, re-inject brine underground formations, handle more water @ higher pressures has been common in other, older, plays. when high volume, high pressure liquids follow planes in susceptible dormant faults, causes them slip resulting in quakes. after strongest earthquake in oklahoma s history, @ pawnee, recorded @ 5.8 on moment magnitude scale, concerns relationship between disposal wells , earthquakes caused state , federal regulators respond shutting down more 50 disposal sites , wells across state, considering proximity fault lines.