Colonial Pipeline


Colonial Pipeline Company is a pipeline operating company headquartered in Alpharetta, Georgia. The company was founded in 1961 and started construction of the Colonial Pipeline in 1962, the largest pipeline system for refined oil products in the U.S. The pipeline – consisting of three tubes – is 5,500 miles long and can carry 3 million barrels of fuel per day between Texas and New York.
In May 2021, the pipeline was the subject of a ransomware cyberattack that caused a shutdown of their operations for five days, which resulted in a temporary fuel shortage along the East Coast.

Background

Colonial consists of more than 5,500 mi of pipeline, originating in Houston, Texas, on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico and terminating at the Port of New York and New Jersey. The pipeline travels through the coastal states of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. Branches from the main pipeline also reach Tennessee. It delivers a daily average of of gasoline, home heating oil, aviation fuel and other refined petroleum products to communities and businesses throughout the South and Eastern United States.
The main lines are and in diameter, with one devoted primarily to gasoline and the other carrying distillate products such as jet fuel, diesel fuel, and home heating oil. The pipeline connects directly to major airports along the system. Fifteen associated oil terminals store more than of fuel and provide a 45-day supply for local communities.
Products move through the main lines at a rate of about. It generally takes from 14 to 24 days for a batch to get from Houston, Texas to New York Harbor, with 18.5 days the average time.

Ownership

Colonial Pipeline's owners are:
Eight major oil companies began discussing a Gulf Coast–to–East Coast pipeline in 1956. On June 7, 1961, Sinclair Pipeline Co., Texaco Inc., Gulf Oil Co., American Oil Co., The Pure Oil Co., Phillips Petroleum Co., The Cities Service Co. and Continental Oil Co. filed incorporation papers in Delaware to establish the Suwannee Pipe Line Company "for the purpose of building a 22-inch line from Houston to the Baltimore–Washington area, capable of delivering 300,000 barrels of refined products a day." Construction of Colonial Pipeline's original system started in 1961.
;1962
During February 1962, the board of the Suwannee Pipe Line Company met to rename the company. It chose Colonial Pipeline Company to represent the fact that the proposed pipeline would traverse several states that were former colonies. Mobil joined the other eight companies in 1962.
On March 6, 1962, Colonial Pipeline Company formally announced its plans. A press release stated that the nine companies "launched the largest single, privately financed construction project in the history of the United States." The initial investment by the nine companies was almost $370 million. R.J. Andress was named president of the newly formed company.
Constructing the Colonial Pipeline required 600,000 tons of steel; and trenching 16.7 million cubic yards of earth to bury the pipeline. It initially included 27 pumping stations to move refined product between Houston and Linden, New Jersey.
A ceremonial ground-breaking near Atlanta, the pipeline's eventual headquarters, on June 20, 1962, was attended by U.S. Commerce Secretary Luther Hodges and company, city and state officials.
On July 2, 1962, Colonial Pipeline Company solicited bids from contractors to build 15 segments of the pipeline's mainline. Each segment averaged 100 miles and 200–300 workers. Work progressed at roughly one mile per day for each of the segments. The first lengths of pipe were delivered by rail, barge, and on specially constructed trailers to handle 80-foot double joints on the road. Construction started on August 1, 1962, in Mississippi.
In December 1962, Ben "Tex" Leuty was named president of Colonial Pipeline Company. He had earlier served as vice president and general manager overseeing construction of the pipeline.
;1963
Engineers needed to solve many problems to construct the pipeline. Chief among these was designing and constructing valves capable of opening and closing 2-ton steel gates in a timely manner to prevent substantial intermingling of different products. Electric motors required 3 minutes to close the massive gates; this allowed 2,400 barrels of product to intermix, rendering the product unusable. To reduce this intermixing, Colonial engineers designed a hydraulic system which reduced the intermixing to 120 barrels as changes were made in products shipped.
The first "linefill" of Colonial began the morning of September 16, 1963, in Houston. It was shut down that day, because of forecasts of a developing major storm. Two days later Hurricane Cindy struck the Gulf Coast. Product reached Greensboro, North Carolina for the first time in November 1963. During the next several months, product was delivered to markets farther north in the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic states.
;1964
On April 27, 1964, the first batch of refined product was delivered to the Roanoke, Virginia area. On June 2, 1964, Colonial made its first delivery to the Baltimore, Maryland – Washington, D.C., area. On December 1, 1964, mainline construction of the Colonial Pipeline was completed, and the Linden Junction Tank Farm and Delivery Facility in New Jersey was activated. The Colonial Pipeline system was fully operational on December 18, 1964.
;1965
The Colonial system averaged a throughput of 636,553 barrels of refined product a day in 1965, its first full year of operation.
Fred Steingraber was elected president of Colonial Pipeline Company on July 26, 1965, taking control in October.
;1966
By February 1966, Colonial was averaging a daily throughput of 776,883 barrels of refined product each day, surpassing the 600,000 barrel per day estimated when construction began just a few years before. During May 1966, Colonial began phase one of an expansion project to add 18 intermediate booster stations to add horsepower to the system. This resulted in increasing product flow through the mainline between Selma, North Carolina and Greensboro, North Carolina. The Colonial pipeline board of directors approved phase 2 and 3 of its early expansion projects to increase capacity on its mainline to 1 million barrels per day.
;1967
Phase two of the expansion was completed in November 1967, adding additional pump units and a new stubline from Mitchell, Virginia to Roanoke, Virginia.
;1971
"Looping", or adding a second line parallel to the first, began in 1971. This construction continued through 1980, essentially doubling the capacity of the pipeline system. The second line was staffed by 593 employees.
;1972
Colonial's average throughput increased to an average of 1,584,000 barrels per day.
Colonial's ownership increased to 10 shareholders including Atlantic Richfield Company; BP Oil Company; Cities Service Company; Continental Pipe Line Company; Mobil Pipe Line Company; Phillips Investment Company; Texaco, Inc.; The American Oil Company; The Toronto Pipe Line Company and Union Oil Company.
;1975
Colonial Pipeline Company named Tom Chilton as president and CEO.
;1977
Colonial Pipeline announced the construction of a 40-inch loop line from Atlanta, Georgia to Greensboro, North Carolina, and a 16-inch lateral loop between Greensboro, North Carolina and Selma, North Carolina. These improvements were estimated to increase system capacity by nearly 20 percent to two million barrels per day.
;1978
On November 3, 1978, the new 40-inch line from Atlanta, Georgia to Greensboro, North Carolina began service. Colonial became the first company to equip gasoline storage tanks with geodesic domes. Colonial updated its Atlanta control center with a new generation of its computerized SCADA system.
;1980
An expansion project totaling $670 million neared completion. The Colonial Pipeline system capacity was 83 percent more than when the system first opened in 1964.
;1984
Colonial began deliveries to Department of Defense, Defense Fuel Supply Command.
;1985
Colonial began using caliper and magnetic pigs to detect anomalies in its pipeline system.
;1987
Donald Brinkley was named president and CEO of Colonial Pipeline Company. Colonial Pipeline Company celebrated its 25th anniversary, serving 79 shipper companies and 67 suppliers.
;1988
Colonial's annual throughput attained 635.6 million barrels. During September 1988, Colonial replaced 7,700 feet of mainline pipe across the Delaware River at a cost of $10 million.
;1990
Colonial's annual throughput attained 667.8 million barrels, a record volume for the company.
;1991
Colonial Pipeline Company relocated its corporate headquarters in Atlanta from Lenox Towers to Resurgens Plaza.
;1992
Colonial's annual throughput attained 676.2 million barrels. Colonial completed 4,000 miles of pipeline inspections with caliper pigs and corrosion inspections on 3,000 miles of pipe with magnetic pigs.
;1996
Colonial introduced elastic-wave pigs to inspect and detect microscopic cracks in the pipeline walls.
;1997
On March 26, 1997, Colonial Pipeline Company was one of ten companies recognized for quality service by the Department of Defense, Military Traffic Management Command. Colonial president and CEO Donald Brinkley retires, David Lemmon named president and CEO.
;1998
Colonial replaced Pipeline Instruction and Proficiency Examination with a computer-based training program for operations and environmental field staff. Colonial expands crack-pig internal inspection program, a key element of system integrity.
;1999
As a precautionary measure, on December 31, 1999, Colonial Pipeline shut down operations for a few hours before and after midnight to prevent any Y2K-related power outages.
;2000
Colonial announced plans to increase pump power on the mainline, which would increase daily capacity by 144,000 barrels to 2.35 million barrels per day. On July 27, Colonial Pipeline announced that it acquired Alliance Products Pipeline and Terminal System from BP Amoco.
;2001
Colonial Pipeline Company was recognized by API for its safety and environmental record, receiving the first "Distinguished Environmental and Safety Award".
During September 2001, Colonial Pipeline Company relocated its headquarters from Atlanta to suburban Alpharetta, Georgia. After the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, Colonial increased security at each of its facilities and created a comprehensive security plan. This was later recognized by the Federal Government as a model for the pipeline industry.
Colonial Pipeline marked a record year with an annual throughput of 2.3 million barrels per day.
;2008
After the passage of Hurricane Ike in September 2008, the pipeline was operated at a severely reduced capacity due to a lack of supply from refineries in the Gulf Coast that had closed, causing gasoline shortages across the southeastern United States.
;2017
Joe Blount is named CEO.
;2020
An estimated two million gallons of gasoline leaked into the Oehler Nature Preserve near Huntersville, North Carolina. This was the largest onshore oil spill in American history.
;2021
On May 7, 2021, Colonial was the subject of a ransomware cyberattack that resulted in a shutdown of their operations. Approximately 12,000 gas stations were affected directly by the shutdown. Operations were restored on May 13, 2021.
;2022
Melanie Little named president and CEO.