No matter who our customers buy their natural gas supplies from, O&R remains the delivery company that maintains the safety and reliability of the local underground distribution system that gets the gas to homes and businesses.

O&R's natural gas delivery system consists of approximately 1,775 miles of gas main and serves over 121,000 customers in New York and Pennsylvania (we do not provide gas service in New Jersey).

(click to enlarge)

Natural gas is a fossil fuel composed almost entirely of methane and is usually found in deep (1) underground reservoirs formed by porous rock. In making its journey from the (2) wellhead to where it is consumed, natural gas travels thousands of miles through (3) interstate pipelines owned and operated by pipeline companies.

Because gas flowing from higher to lower pressure is the fundamental principle of the natural gas delivery system, (4) compressor stations are located every 50-60 miles along the pipeline to boost pressure that is lost through friction. Also along the route, the natural gas may be (5) stored underground in depleted oil and gas wells, salt caverns and other natural geological formations for use during seasonal peak periods. To handle hourly fluctuations in demand, pipeline operators use the storage capacity of the pipeline itself by raising or lowering the pressure in a line segment.

Pipelines interconnect with other pipelines and other utility systems, offering system operators flexibility in moving the gas. The natural gas eventually reaches O&R through a (6) gate station, where it is metered and injected with an odorant, and then distributed through O&R's vast (7) local network of steel and plastic pipeline.