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Industry
Statistics
> Transportation of Oil and Petroleum Products
Transportation of Oil and Petroleum
Products
Amount of Petroleum and Petroleum
Products Moved by Tank Barges 1994-2003
Since 1994, tank barges moved on average about 69 billion
gallons of petroleum and petroleum products in a year. As
the chart shows, the range is narrow, with a low of 66.0 billion
gallons in 2002 and a peak of 71.5 billion gallons in 1997.
Source: U.S. Coast Guard, Oil Spill Compendium; U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers, Waterborne Commerce of the U.S.
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Tank Barge Oil Spills 1994-2004
As the chart shows, the number of gallons of petroleum and
petroleum products spilled from tank barges has declined dramatically
since 1996. The 1994-1996 period had an average spillage of
1.1 million gallons. For 1997-2003, the annual average is
150,944 gallons.
The white diamond on the chart shows the largest spill in
each year. Except for 1997 and 2000, the largest spill in
the year accounts for the majority of the total gallons spilled.
Click here for the
data table.
Source: U.S. Coast Guard, Oil Spill Compendium.
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Tank Barge Oil Spills by Spill Size
1994-2004
The U.S. Coast Guard categorizes oil spills into these sizes:
minor--less than 1,000 gallons; medium--1,000
to 9,999 gallons; and major--10,000 gallons or more.
The chart breaks out the oil spills from 1994-2004 by these
size types. The major spills are the largest contributor,
medium spills are somewhat significant, and the minor spills
(most are under 100 gallons) are trivial. Specific data on
this can be accessed by clicking here.
Source: U.S. Coast Guard, Oil Spill Compendium and MISLE
database.
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Tank Barge Oil Spill Rate (1994-2003)
The Coast Guard - AWO Safety Partnership's metric for oil
spill rate is gallons spilled from tank barges per one million
gallons moved by tank barge.
The chart shows the rate from 1994 through 2003, the most
recent year for which data is available. (Click here
to see the data for the rate calculations.) The chart clearly
demonstrates a dramatic downward shift in the spill rate starting
in 1997. In 2003, the towing industry successfully transported
99.99985% of the petroleum it carried.
Source: U.S. Coast Guard, Oil Spill Compendium.
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Double Hull Tank Barges
AWO estimates
that as of November 2005, the combined inland and coastal
tank barge fleet consisted of 3,697 vessels. The number of
double-hull tanks barges is 2,938 or 80% -- 10 years before
the mandate of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 for the exclusive
use of double-hull vessels in the transport of petroleum and
other hazardous liquids.
As the chart shows, only 298 barges, or 8%, are single-hulled.
The other 461 barges (12%) are double-bottom, double-sided,
or another type of reinforced hull design.
The data to produce these estimates are from the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Coast Guard, industry publications,
and other sources believed reliable.
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