North America's Top 10 Oil Pipeline Stocks for Income Investors

The continent’s energy infrastructure runs on an extensive network of pipelines—and the companies that operate these oil pipeline stocks have become essential components of the energy economy. With 1.38 million miles of pipeline infrastructure across North America, the U.S. alone operates more than eight times the pipeline capacity of Russia, the next-largest system globally. These vast networks transport crude oil, natural gas, and other hydrocarbons from extraction points to refineries and export terminals, serving millions of energy consumers while generating substantial returns for shareholders.

The operators of these networks—known as midstream companies—have developed business models that deliver predictable cash flows through fee-based services rather than commodity price exposure. This structural advantage has made oil pipeline stocks particularly attractive to income-focused investors seeking stable dividend streams alongside growth potential. Here’s how the industry’s leading operators have built their positions and why they remain compelling investment opportunities.

Why Oil Pipeline Stocks Matter in Energy Infrastructure

Pipeline companies occupy a critical position between upstream producers (those extracting oil and gas) and downstream refiners (those processing these materials into consumer products). While some traditional oil and gas companies operate their own pipelines, the majority of North America’s infrastructure is controlled by specialized midstream operators.

The business model supporting oil pipeline stocks offers significant advantages. These companies earn revenue primarily through transportation fees rather than commodity trading, meaning they profit regardless of whether oil prices rise or fall. A barrel moving through their system generates the same fee whether crude trades at $50 or $150 per barrel. This predictable revenue stream enables operators to maintain stable, high-yielding dividend payments to shareholders while retaining cash for expansion.

The scale of potential growth is substantial. Industry analysts estimate North America will need to invest over $320 billion in oil-related pipeline infrastructure by 2035, with additional massive investments required for natural gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facilities. This creates a multi-decade growth runway for well-positioned oil pipeline stocks.

Enbridge: North America’s Largest Integrated Energy Operator

Enbridge operates what is arguably the world’s most sophisticated crude oil transportation system, with pipelines spanning both the United States and Canada. The company transports approximately 25% of all North American crude oil, including roughly 63% of Canadian exports destined for U.S. refineries.

Beyond oil pipelines, Enbridge’s diversified portfolio includes natural gas transmission systems (handling 18% of U.S. gas consumption), gas distribution utilities serving millions of residential customers, and a growing renewable energy business across North America and Europe. This diversification means revenue comes from multiple streams: approximately 50% from crude oil pipelines, 30% from gas transmission, 15% from gas utilities, and the remainder from renewable assets.

The company’s dominance grew through strategic investments in Western Canadian oil sands infrastructure, followed by transformational acquisitions like its 2017 purchase of Spectra Energy, a major natural gas pipeline operator. That deal propelled Enbridge to the industry’s top position.

Looking forward, the company maintains a robust expansion pipeline. It has invested roughly CA$12 billion in major projects with annual spending of CA$5-6 billion targeted for years beyond 2020. This disciplined capital deployment should support consistent dividend increases and underpin Enbridge’s position as North America’s leading oil pipeline stock.

Energy Transfer: Full-Service Midstream Dominance

Energy Transfer operates what can be described as a fully integrated energy logistics platform. With over 86,000 miles of pipelines throughout the United States, the company moves natural gas, crude oil, natural gas liquids (NGLs), and refined petroleum products from all major production regions to every significant market center.

What distinguishes Energy Transfer is the scope of its integrated operations. The company operates processing facilities, storage terminals, and export infrastructure, meaning that a single energy molecule may flow through five to seven separate Energy Transfer assets between well and end user—with the company earning a fee at each stage. This integration creates multiple revenue touches from the same commodity.

Energy Transfer has evolved from a natural gas-focused operator into a fully diversified midstream platform through systematic acquisition and organic expansion. The company now possesses the flexibility to pursue the highest-return opportunities across natural gas, crude oil, NGLs, refined products, and petrochemicals—making it arguably the most diversified major operator. The company distributes approximately half its cash flow as distributions while retaining capital for growth investments.

This combination of scale and asset integration has established Energy Transfer as the largest master limited partnership (MLP) in the midstream space. The company’s strategically positioned assets and sound financial foundation position it well to continue executing its growth strategy through both internal projects and strategic acquisitions of third-party infrastructure.

Enterprise Products Partners: The NGL Specialist

Enterprise Products Partners operates one of the most comprehensively integrated midstream networks in North America. Its portfolio spans natural gas, NGLs, crude oil, petrochemicals, and refined products pipelines, complemented by storage facilities, processing plants, and export terminals.

The company has established particular dominance in the NGL infrastructure segment—the market for natural gas liquids like ethane and propane. Enterprise generates approximately half its earnings from NGL-related services and another 13% from petrochemical activities that typically consume these liquids.

What makes Enterprise particularly well-positioned is the industry’s infrastructure needs. Analysts estimate more than $50 billion in new NGL-related infrastructure investment will be required through 2035, creating substantial growth opportunities precisely where Enterprise has established its competitive advantages.

Given this favorable backdrop and the company’s integrated operational model, Enterprise should continue growing cash distributions for many years. Each energy molecule flowing through its system creates multiple fee collection opportunities, providing the foundation for steady distribution increases to shareholders.

TC Energy: Canada’s Natural Gas Infrastructure Cornerstone

TC Energy (formerly known as TransCanada) has evolved into one of North America’s largest natural gas pipeline operators. In its core business, the company transports approximately 25% of continental gas volumes, with operations spanning Canada, the United States, and Mexico.

The company’s origins trace to the iconic Canadian Mainline system—the longest gas pipeline network in Canada. Through systematic expansion projects and acquisitions, TC Energy built its North American footprint. The pivotal 2016 acquisition of Columbia Pipeline Group substantially expanded its U.S. operations, which now represent the company’s largest earnings contributor.

TC Energy also operates substantial crude oil infrastructure, including the Keystone Pipeline System that moves 20% of Western Canadian oil exports to U.S. refining centers. The company rounds out its portfolio with a significant electricity generation business featuring a major nuclear facility.

The company maintains strong visibility into future growth. As of 2019, TC Energy had CA$30 billion (approximately $23 billion) of secured expansion projects targeted through 2023, with more than CA$20 billion additional expansions under development. This multi-year project backlog provides confidence in the company’s earnings trajectory and supports ongoing dividend growth.

Kinder Morgan: The Dominant Gas Pipeline Network Operator

Kinder Morgan operates North America’s largest natural gas pipeline system, moving 40% of all U.S. natural gas consumption. The company’s extensive pipeline network connects every major supply basin to every major demand center, positioning it to participate in production growth across diverse regions.

Beyond natural gas, Kinder Morgan operates the largest refined products pipeline system, a major crude oil network with significant exposure to the fast-growing Permian Basin, NGL pipelines, and even some natural gas storage assets. The company also operates a substantial carbon dioxide and oil production business.

Natural gas pipelines represent the company’s largest earnings driver, forecast to account for 61% of earnings. Kinder Morgan’s strategic footprint in Texas and Louisiana positions it to benefit from two major demand drivers: petrochemical plant expansion and liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facility growth in coastal areas.

The company enters a favorable growth period supported by infrastructure needs. The INGAA Foundation estimates North America requires $23 billion in annual natural gas infrastructure investment through 2035. Kinder Morgan is confident it can secure $2-3 billion in new expansion projects annually, supporting minimum 4% earnings growth and enabling sustained dividend increases.

Williams Companies: Pure-Play Natural Gas Operator

Williams Companies operates as a focused natural gas infrastructure specialist, handling 30% of U.S. natural gas volumes. The company’s flagship asset is the Transco system—the largest interstate gas pipeline by volume—which moves gas from South Texas to New York City while serving markets throughout the Atlantic Coast region.

Williams has invested heavily to expand Transco’s capacity over multiple decades, nearly doubling volumes from 8.5 billion cubic feet daily (BCF/d) in 2009 to 16.7 BCF/d in 2018, with targets to reach 18.9 BCF/d by 2022.

The company also operates a leading natural gas gathering and processing business in the prolific Marcellus and Utica shale regions of the Appalachian Basin. This business is positioned for 10-15% annual volume growth through at least 2021, requiring continued pipeline expansion to move newly produced gas to systems like Transco.

The integration between supply aggregation and demand-center transportation should enable Williams to grow earnings at a 5-7% annual rate over the long term, supporting steady dividend increases that reflect the company’s role as a key oil pipeline stocks operator in natural gas logistics.

MPLX: Marathon Petroleum’s Integrated Midstream Platform

MPLX began as a midstream subsidiary of refining giant Marathon Petroleum but has evolved into a self-sustaining enterprise. While initially fed primarily by Marathon’s logistics requirements, MPLX has transformed into a full-service midstream company through organic expansion projects and third-party acquisitions.

The company provides integrated “wellhead to water” solutions for petroleum producers. Its network enables drillers to transport production from wells through processing, storage, and export facilities along the Gulf Coast. MPLX has targeted Permian Basin expansion through acquisitions and organic investment, substantially increasing its export capabilities and cash flow generation.

With multiple growth avenues available in its core operating regions, MPLX should be able to maintain its distribution growth trajectory. The company’s evolution from purely logistics-focused operator to diversified midstream platform provides flexibility to pursue attractive returns across the sector.

ONEOK: Specialized NGL and Natural Gas Operator

ONEOK has concentrated its efforts on natural gas liquids (NGL) infrastructure, deriving approximately 60% of earnings from NGL operations. The company’s integrated system connects natural gas processing plants to NGL separation facilities, which then deliver purified products like ethane and propane to petrochemical customers and other industrial consumers.

The company also operates natural gas gathering and processing businesses (25% of earnings) and gas transmission pipelines (remaining 15%). ONEOK’s strategic focus has been solving critical infrastructure challenges in premier production regions.

In the Bakken shale of North Dakota, ONEOK built gathering systems and processing facilities specifically to capture natural gas that would otherwise be flared (burned off due to lack of infrastructure). By establishing these operations, ONEOK has helped reduce flaring rates from 35% in 2014 to approximately 15% in 2019, despite production nearly tripling—demonstrating how oil pipeline stocks can solve real economic and environmental challenges.

ONEOK maintains more than $6 billion in projects under construction, concentrated on capturing and processing liquids-rich gas in North Dakota and the STACK/SCOOP play in Oklahoma. These investments support healthy earnings growth through 2021 and beyond, fueling continued distribution increases.

Pembina Pipeline: Western Canadian Energy Infrastructure Leader

Pembina operates an integrated energy infrastructure system focused on Western Canada’s resource-rich regions. The company moves bitumen from oil sands facilities, crude oil from conventional wells, and NGLs and natural gas from unconventional shale formations including the Montney and Duvernay.

Pembina is North America’s largest third-party natural gas processor in Canada and holds the most capacity to fractionate raw NGLs into pure products. The company also owns stakes in U.S. natural gas pipeline systems, extending its geographic reach.

Pembina’s strategy has centered on providing comprehensive natural gas services to Canadian shale drillers, enabling more gas processing and increased liquids production. This focus has justified steady expansion of its liquids pipeline network, particularly the Peace Pipeline, which the company has progressively expanded based on growing volumes.

In 2019, Pembina maintained CA$5.5 billion in active expansion projects plus more than CA$10 billion under development, including an LNG export project with associated pipeline infrastructure on Oregon’s coast. As these projects enter service, they will drive cash flow growth supporting monthly dividend payments—a distinguishing feature among major energy infrastructure operators.

Plains All American Pipeline: The Crude Oil Infrastructure Specialist

Plains All American Pipeline has built North America’s largest crude oil-focused midstream business. The company operates an extensive crude oil pipeline network spanning from Western Canada to the U.S. Gulf Coast with substantial Permian Basin exposure. This is complemented by NGL pipelines, storage terminals, and natural gas storage assets.

Plains All American typically operates under long-term, fee-based contracts, providing visibility into cash flows that support the company’s high-yield distribution and discretionary capital spending on expansion projects.

The company enters a favorable demand environment. The INGAA Foundation estimates $321 billion in oil infrastructure investment will be needed by 2035. A substantial portion of this spending will target Permian Basin infrastructure to support potential doubling of regional production by 2025—exactly where Plains All American has strategically positioned its assets.

This structural positioning sets Plains All American up for significant growth in coming years, creating opportunities for distribution expansion and total return generation for shareholders seeking oil pipeline stocks exposure.

The Strategic Logic Behind Energy Infrastructure Leadership

The largest oil pipeline stocks didn’t achieve their positions through indiscriminate asset acquisition. Instead, each company focused initially on dominating a specific market niche—whether crude oil in certain regions, natural gas in specific basins, or particular commodity types like NGLs.

By building integrated systems to serve those niches, these companies established competitive advantages that enabled subsequent geographic and product diversification. This disciplined, focused approach to growth has proven more successful than broad-based acquisition strategies. The result has been the creation of market-leading midstream operators with diversified revenue streams, predictable cash flows, and the financial capacity to increase distributions steadily.

For income-focused investors, oil pipeline stocks offer an attractive combination: businesses with structural cost advantages, multi-decade investment horizons, regulatory frameworks supporting predictable returns, and the financial capacity to consistently increase shareholder distributions. This combination has historically enabled many of these stocks to deliver market-beating total returns while providing reliable income streams.