As part of a class I was taking on oil and gas law, I had gone to an oil refinery. All around me were large pipes, about 30 centimeters in diameter, most of them transparent. They were all empty until all at once, some white fluid began passing through the pipes. Then the black oil was turned on, and I watched it pass through the pipes all around me. I hadn't thought I was going to enjoy oil and gas law, but now I was beginning to enjoy it.

The oil circled around through the pipes. I saw the oil coming in both directions in one pipe, and watched as it filled up the entire pipe. Finally, the oil came out of a pipe that was just to my right above my head. It fell into a large vat below the raised platform on which I was standing. Right at the end of the pipe, just before the oil came out, was a section which was loosed, which I had to hold up. The piece I was holding wasn't transparent, but was made of metal. It was abut the size of a stove pipe. As I held the pipe, I became engrossed in watching the thick oil pass through it. It was so thick it looked as if it could be cut with a knife.

I began to weary of holding the piece of pipe, but I knew if I let go it would fall. I tried to get the attention of some people to come and help me. When no one came, I finally let go and watched the piece of pipe fall into the vat. Then some people came over. A heavy-built worker turned off the oil, so it stopped flowing. He sealed off that part of the pipeline so the oil would come out somewhere else. The man didn't seem angry, and after perfunctorily performing his task, he moved on.

I began talking to a man. I asked him what the white stuff was called which went through first. He said it was called "milk."

I thought it was a byproduct of the oil. I asked, "Well, where does it come from?"

He said it was a byproduct, an oily type of product. The milk had been as thick as the oil, and something about its consistency pleased me. I thought there might be some machinery here which whipped the white fluid up into a foam. The man told me the white fluid went through some underground pipes and that it was whipped up down there.

I was beginning to think I was going to enjoy learning about all I was seeing.

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