crude-oil pipeline![click to hear](/images/speaker.jpg)
Continuous underground, aboveground or underwater oil pipeline that can be thousands of miles long (the Trans-Siberian pipeline is 3,800 mi long).
derrick ![click to hear](/images/speaker.jpg)
Metal structure erected over an oil well; tools for drilling through rock are raised and lowered through it.
offshore well ![click to hear](/images/speaker.jpg)
Hole dug in the sea floor to extract oil deposits; equipment such as the Christmas tree rests on the seabed.
tank farm ![click to hear](/images/speaker.jpg)
All the facilities (such as tanks and pumps) that store large quantities of crude oil to be sent later to the refinery.
buffer tank ![click to hear](/images/speaker.jpg)
Large container that stores crude oil temporarily before it is pumped back into the pipeline.
aboveground pipeline ![click to hear](/images/speaker.jpg)
Oil pipeline that rests on aboveground supports to protect it from frozen ground (e.g., the Alaska pipeline).
central pumping station ![click to hear](/images/speaker.jpg)
Powerful pumping station that maintains the pressure required to move the oil along the pipeline to the next pumping station.
terminal ![click to hear](/images/speaker.jpg)
Facility located at the end of the pipeline that includes equipment such as tanks and pumps; it receives the crude oil before it is refined.
refinery ![click to hear](/images/speaker.jpg)
Plant in which crude oil is refined (separated and scrubbed) to obtain a broad range of finished products (including motor fuel and oils).
pipeline ![click to hear](/images/speaker.jpg)
The steel piping that carries oil from one treatment facility to another.
Christmas tree ![click to hear](/images/speaker.jpg)
Group of devices at the head of the producing well that regulate the flow of oil being extracted from the deposit.
pumping station ![click to hear](/images/speaker.jpg)
Installation located at regular intervals along the pipeline that is fitted with motorized pumps; it ensures that the oil flows inside the pipeline.
submarine pipeline ![click to hear](/images/speaker.jpg)
Pipeline installed on the seabed that carries oil extracted from an underwater deposit to shore.