Petroleum Pipeline Rates and Competition--Issues Long Neglected By Federal Regulators and in Need of Attention

A network of 174,000 miles of oil pipelines crisscrosses the United States, carrying 9.6 billion barrels of crude oil and petroleum products, and providing the most efficient and economical means of moving oil; pipeline costs represent only 2 or 3 percent of the delivered price of petroleum products. The Interstate Commmerce Commission (ICC) regulated these pipelines until October 1977, when jurisdiction was transferred to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). Over 70 years of ostensible regulation by ICC, little was done and information as to past compliance is sketchy.