Environmental impacts for the transportation of crude oil and refined products

Petroleum crude oil is still the most important source of energy. Besides, it is the main source of raw materials and refinery products used in the petrochemical industry. Basically, crude oil is transferred from production sites to refineries and petrochemical plants and then to the end-user. Petroleum transportation systems (PTSs) significantly influence the streaming of petroleum oil within a petroleum supply chain (PSC), due to the prodigious demand on this valuable resource. Such systems are harnessed for benign and facile movement of crude and/or refined products from preliminary spots to their ultimate destinations via land or water transportation. Due to their dynamic movement, PTSs are vulnerable to several risks which not only influence the product flow within the PSC and the global selling price of the fuel, but also have severe consequences for humans, economies, and the environment. Consequently, safe operations are highly required for the success of PTSs. This integrated review first presents short hints on the formation and composition of crude oil and refinery products. Then, it reviews comprehensively each transportation method, focusing on the problems emerged from the points of their environmental and economic impacts, suggesting some cost-effective solutions to reduce these impacts. We aim to fill this gap of research in the area of PTSs by presenting an advanced approach to guarantee the safety of PTSs and by introducing some risk assessment, treatment, and decision-making procedures for handling potential hazards and functioning issues that emerged during the marine ports, ships, or pipeline transportation.