Building a new Terminal is relatively rare these days. Colonial celebrates the opening of the new, state-of-the-art Austell Terminal, which will provide more than the 30,000 barrels of fuel daily to the Metro Atlanta region. More than two-thirds of the fuel delivered to Georgia arrives on Colonial’s system. The Austell Terminal will further enhance our ability to serve our customers safely and reliably.

Colonial welcomes Melanie Little as the company’s President and Chief Executive Officer. Little is Colonial’s 11th president in the company’s 60-year history.

Colonial Pipeline adds ability to transport sustainable aviation fuel. With this change, Colonial is able to meet customers’ evolving needs, allowing them to nominate jet fuel that includes SAF from any Colonial origin point to any Colonial destination, including airports, along Colonial’s 5,500-mile system.

Colonial entered the terminal business in October 2020, through the acquisition of three refined product terminals. Branded as Colonial Pipeline Terminals, the terminal business is a natural extension of Colonial’s overall business, providing the opportunity to serve our customers in new ways, while building and strengthening relationships. Two of the terminals – located in Charlotte, NC and Chattanooga, TN – are connected to the Colonial Pipeline Company system, and the other – located in Fredericksburg, VA – is connected to Plantation Pipeline Company. 

(October) Colonial launches its first annual ​“Colonial Cares” day that gives employees the opportunity to partner and support environmental organizations across the pipeline system by engaging in river clean-up activities and state park restoration projects.

(June) Colonial announces the purchase of Shell Pipeline Company LP’s interest in the Port Arthur Products Station and Shell Ex Facility, known as PAPS. The terminal adds 3.2 million barrels of tankage to Colonial’s system, and offers the potential to provide new services for refiners and shippers within the dynamic Texas Refining Complex.

(April) Shell Pipeline Company LP teams with Colonial on a new, 75-mile, 24-inch refined products pipeline from Garyville to East Feliciana Parish in Louisiana. Bengal Pipeline is expected to begin operating in mid-May and will fulfill distribution to consumers in the Southeastern, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern states.

(April) Colonial sweeps year 2000 environmental and safety awards at the America Petroleum Institute’s annual Pipeline Conference in San Antonio. Among Colonial’s honors is the first-ever-presented Distinguished Environmental and Safety Award.

(July 27) Colonial announces the Alliance Pipeline purchase of a 147-mile line from a refinery in New Orleans to a 2.2 million barrel tank farm in Collins, MS. The purchase includes a ten-year throughput agreement.

Colonial replaces Pipeline Instruction and Proficiency Examination (PIPE) with a state-of-the-art, computer-based training program for operators and environmental technicians.

(August) Colonial launches the sophisticated elastic-wave ​“pig” to detect microscopic cracks in pipe wall.

(March) Colonial celebrates its 25th anniversary, having grown from serving its non owner companies to serving 79 shippers and 67 suppliers and consignees.

(Fall) Three-year, $670 million expansion program nears completion. Colonial now has 83 percent more pipeline than originally constructed. 

(January 29) Board approves laying 36-inch pipe parallel to the mainline from Baton Rouge, LA, to Atlanta Junction and adding six stations. This marks the beginning of a project to loop the mainline in five stages, over the course of nine years.

(December1) Linden Junction Tank Farm and Delivery Facility, the northern terminus of the mainline, is activated and mainline construction is complete. (December 18) The Colonial system is operational from Houston to Linden.

The first 1,000-mile section of the pipeline is ready to be filled. The first product reaches Greensboro on November 30 at the end of the 36” portion of the line. Product is moving at the rate of 240,000 barrels a day.

(October) Georgia Tech Research Institute designs a computational process that duplicates manual scheduling, making Colonial the first pipeline to generate schedules from digital computers from its start-up.

(June 20) U.S. Secretary of Commerce Luther H. Hodges is the featured speaker at Colonial’s groundbreaking at Powder Springs, GA. Construction of the largest-diameter products pipeline system in existence will require more than 50 contractors working for 2.5 years. The pipeline will consume 650,000 tons of steel and require that 16.7 million cubic yards of dirt be trenched to bury the line. The cost of initial construction is $370 million.

Nine major oil companies come together to create a Gulf Coast to East Coast pipeline company. The company was originally named Suwannee Pipeline Company.