From the Introduction: The grassy plains and the occasional conifer forest dotting it stretch almost from one horizon to the other. Quite similar to the crude oil pipeline bisecting it and the dirt road running parallel to it. While the dirt road is just a pair of tracks worn into the grass of the plains the pipeline itself is quite an elaborate affair. Long pipes with attached cooling fins have been sunk deep into the ground. Upon steel beams connecting them rest the roller bearings carrying the actual pipeline. A pipeline consisting of a highly flexible steel pipe, a thick layer of insulation material and an outer aluminium shell.