How America's Largest Pipeline Operators Dominate the Energy Transport Market

The Backbone of North American Energy Infrastructure

The U.S. operates the world’s most extensive pipeline network—1.38 million miles of infrastructure that far exceeds any other nation, with Russia’s system coming in a distant second at roughly one-seventh the scale. This sprawling network of steel corridors connects oil extraction sites to refineries and petrochemical plants, ultimately delivering energy products to consumers and international shipping ports.

What makes pipeline companies particularly attractive to investors is their business model: they collect predictable fees based on commodity volumes moving through their systems, generating billions in annual free cash flow. This steady income stream enables these companies to distribute substantial high-yielding dividends while simultaneously funding expansion projects. The combination of consistent cash returns and infrastructure growth potential creates compelling opportunities for income-focused portfolio managers.

The Mechanics: Why Midstream Companies Matter

Pipeline operators occupy a unique position in the energy supply chain. They bridge upstream producers—who extract crude and natural gas from reservoirs—and downstream processors who refine these materials into usable fuels and chemicals. While some major oil companies own pipeline assets, dedicated midstream firms control the majority of North America’s transport infrastructure and operate the associated processing plants, storage facilities, and export terminals.

The industry offers investors multiple structures: traditional corporations domiciled in the U.S. and Canada, plus Master Limited Partnerships (MLPs) that benefit from federal tax exemptions. This diversity means substantial choice among publicly traded options for different investor objectives.

The Ten Largest Pipeline-Focused Companies by Enterprise Value

Among North America’s largest pipeline operators, several stand out through strategic focus combined with calculated diversification. Each major player initially dominated a specific infrastructure niche before expanding into adjacent market segments, creating the integrated systems that define today’s largest pipeline companies.

Enbridge: North America’s Integrated Energy Infrastructure Leader

Canada’s Enbridge has constructed the world’s longest and most intricate crude transportation system, operating across both U.S. and Canadian borders. During 2019, the company transported one-quarter of all North American crude supplies, capturing 63% of Canadian exports destined for U.S. refineries.

Beyond liquids, Enbridge’s natural gas division moves approximately 18% of America’s gas consumption, complemented by substantial gas utility assets. The company also maintains a growing renewable energy portfolio across North America and Europe. Revenue diversification reflects this: roughly 50% from crude pipelines, 30% from gas transmission, 15% from utilities, and the remainder from alternative energy sources.

The company’s dominance emerged through strategic infrastructure investments supporting Western Canada’s oil sands development. A transformative 2017 acquisition of Spectra Energy, a gas-focused pipeline operator, propelled Enbridge to market leadership. The company currently oversees CA$16 billion in active expansion projects with plans to invest CA$5-6 billion annually on additional infrastructure post-2020, positioning it to maintain its status as the continent’s premier pipeline operator.

Energy Transfer: The Largest Fully Integrated MLP Platform

Operating as the largest MLP in the sector, Energy Transfer manages a comprehensive midstream network spanning over 86,000 miles of pipeline throughout the United States. This extensive system transports natural gas, crude oil, liquefied natural gas (NGLs), and refined products from all major production basins to every significant demand center.

The company’s integrated approach generates revenue at multiple junctures as products move from production wells to end consumers. This multi-stage revenue collection—combined with fee-based contracts rather than commodity exposure—creates stable, predictable cash flows insulated from price volatility. Energy Transfer distributes approximately half its cash flow as dividends while retaining capital for expansion, having grown through targeted acquisitions and organic projects across all midstream sectors.

Enterprise Products Partners: Dominance Through Integrated Diversification

Enterprise operates a sophisticated, vertically integrated midstream platform encompassing natural gas, NGLs, crude, refined products, petrochemicals, plus storage and processing infrastructure. A given energy molecule typically transverses five to seven of Enterprise’s assets before reaching end-users, generating fees at each stage.

The company particularly dominates NGL infrastructure, deriving roughly 50% of earnings from NGL-related services and another 13% from petrochemical operations that consume these liquids. Industry forecasts project over $50 billion in new NGL infrastructure investment through 2035, providing Enterprise with substantial growth runway through this specialized niche.

TC Energy: Dominating Canadian Gas Infrastructure

Formerly TransCanada, TC Energy ranks among North America’s largest natural gas pipeline operators, transporting one-quarter of continental volumes across Canada, the U.S., and Mexico. The company also operates major crude infrastructure including the Keystone Pipeline System, which moves 20% of Western Canadian crude exports to American refineries, complemented by significant electricity generation assets.

Over half of TC Energy’s earnings derive from natural gas businesses developed through acquisitions and expansion projects. The landmark 2016 acquisition of Columbia Pipeline Group significantly enhanced U.S. operations, which now represent the company’s largest earnings contributor. With CA$30 billion in secured expansion projects as of 2019, TC Energy maintains highly visible earnings growth through 2023, while additional CA$20 billion in projects remain under development.

Kinder Morgan: America’s Gas Infrastructure Champion

Kinder Morgan operates North America’s largest natural gas pipeline system, transporting 40% of U.S. gas consumption. The company also leads in refined products transport and carbon dioxide movement, while managing crude, NGL, and large-scale storage terminal operations.

Natural gas infrastructure generates approximately 61% of projected 2019 earnings, with particular strength in Texas and Louisiana connections between fast-growing regions like the Permian Basin and Haynesville shale through to liquefied natural gas export facilities. The company currently manages $5.7 billion in expansion projects—roughly 80% gas-related—while projecting $2-3 billion in annual new projects going forward, supporting minimum 4% annual earnings growth and enabling sustained dividend increases.

Williams Companies: The Gas-Focused Specialist

Williams operates as a major natural gas pipeline handler, managing 30% of American volumes. Its flagship asset, the Transco system, represents the largest interstate gas pipeline by volume, stretching 1,800 miles from South Texas to New York City along the Atlantic Coast.

The company has nearly doubled Transco’s capacity from 8.5 BCF/d in 2009 to 16.7 BCF/d in 2018, targeting 18.9 BCF/d by 2022. Williams also operates leading natural gas gathering and processing in the fast-expanding Marcellus and Utica shale regions, positioned for 10-15% compound annual volume growth through at least 2021. This integrated supply-to-demand infrastructure supports projected 5-7% annual long-term earnings growth and consistent dividend expansion.

MPLX: The Self-Sustaining MLP Evolution

Originally created as a Marathon Petroleum subsidiary to own and operate midstream infrastructure, MPLX has evolved into an independent, diversified company through organic expansion and third-party acquisitions. The company now provides “wellhead to water” solutions across the U.S., with particular focus on the Permian Basin.

Strategic investments and partnerships have expanded MPLX’s export capabilities and cash flow generation, positioning it for continued distribution growth as production activity accelerates in its core operating regions.

ONEOK: The NGL Specialist

ONEOK derives 60% of current earnings from NGL infrastructure—systems connecting natural gas processing plants to separation facilities producing ethane, propane, and other products for petrochemical customers. The company additionally gathers and processes raw natural gas (25% of earnings) and operates transmission pipelines (15% of earnings).

Initial growth came from solving the Bakken shale’s critical infrastructure gap: capturing associated natural gas that producers were flaring. ONEOK’s systems reduced Bakken flaring from 35% in 2014 to approximately 15% in 2019 despite nearly tripling output. With over $6 billion in projects under construction, primarily targeting liquids-rich gas capture across North Dakota and Oklahoma’s STACK/SCOOP play, ONEOK maintains strong earnings growth prospects through 2021.

Pembina Pipeline: Western Canada’s Integrated Operator

Pembina operates integrated infrastructure across Western Canada, transporting bitumen from oil sands, conventional crude, NGLs, and natural gas from unconventional shale. The company maintains stakes in U.S. natural gas systems, operates as the largest third-party gas processor in Western Canada, and possesses leading fractionation capacity for separating raw NGLs into pure products.

Pembina’s strategic focus on gas services to Canada’s liquids-rich shale formations—including Montney and Duvernay—has enabled expanding gas processing and liquids output, supporting Peace Pipeline capacity increases. With CA$5.5 billion in active expansion projects and CA$10 billion more under development (including an Oregon LNG export project), Pembina maintains growth visibility, offering one of few monthly dividend payments in the sector.

Plains All American Pipeline: The Oil-Focused Transport Leader

Plains All American operates a substantial crude oil infrastructure business spanning Western Canada through the U.S. Gulf Coast, with significant Permian Basin exposure. NGL pipelines, storage terminals, and select natural gas storage assets complement the crude network.

Long-term, fee-based customer contracts provide predictable cash flow supporting high-yield distributions while retaining capital for expansion. Industry estimates project $321 billion in required oil infrastructure investment by 2035, with substantial capital allocated to Permian expansion supporting production doubling by 2025—directly aligning with Plains’ strategic strengths and supporting years of growth ahead.

Market Dynamics: Why Strategic Focus Drives Scale

The largest U.S. pipeline companies achieved their market positions not through random infrastructure acquisition but via focused strategies targeting specific market segments. Each operator initially dominated a particular niche—whether regional gas transmission, NGL processing, or crude collection—before leveraging that expertise to diversify into adjacent infrastructure. This disciplined growth approach has consistently delivered market-beating returns, combining steady dividend income with capital appreciation potential that continues attracting income-focused investors seeking exposure to North America’s essential energy transport infrastructure.