Ackshoolly, only a small fraction (less than 10%) of oil extracted is made into plastic. One of the things lately is that they instead use ethane, an otherwise-useless byproduct of fracking, to make plastic. Unlike natural gas, ethane is heavier than air and since it’s used to make plastic it can’t have an odoriferous compound added for safety. So if an ethane pipeline leaks, the gas collects in low-lying areas undetected until a stray ignition source makes it explode. I happen to know this because I live a few miles from one of these pipelines and I cross it four times a day. Yay progress!
Ackshoolly, only a small fraction (less than 10%) of oil extracted is made into plastic. One of the things lately is that they instead use ethane, an otherwise-useless byproduct of fracking, to make plastic. Unlike natural gas, ethane is heavier than air and since it’s used to make plastic it can’t have an odoriferous compound added for safety. So if an ethane pipeline leaks, the gas collects in low-lying areas undetected until a stray ignition source makes it explode. I happen to know this because I live a few miles from one of these pipelines and I cross it four times a day. Yay progress!