Comment by EvanAnderson

Pipelines are cool. I don't have any direct references to give you, but you can search-engine for some interesting stuff. I did work for a petroleum distributor years ago and got to talk people w/ pipeline experience.

An interesting anecdote I can relate is learning abut "transmix", AKA "slop". I worked on a logistics planning app (a really, really fun mix of traveling salesman and bin packing). I saw an entry for "slop" in the pricing feed from an exchange. This caught my eye and led me to talk to one of the "pipeline guys" about what "slop" might be (spoiler - it's a mix of pipeline products that happens when the product in the pipeline is changed) and why one might want to buy "slop".