Ever notice the pipelines running through Regina?

As a pipeline debate heats up across the country, millions of barrels of oil flow through Regina every day.

In some parts of the city, in the northern edge, pipelines and playgrounds share the same space.

Government official Doug MacKnight, from Saskatchewan's Petroleum and Natural Gas Division in the Ministry of the Economy, says Regina is a vital hub between where oil is produced and where it needs to go.

"We've got a bottleneck when it comes to getting our product to market," MacKnight said. "That affects the price, it affects the royalties and taxes. It affects our ability to expand production. Pipes are just absolutely critical."

MacKnight was also confident in the safety of moving oil via pipelines, even those that are decades old.

"There's extensive work done in maintaining their integrity," MacKnight said. "They may be 60-years-old, but they're monitoring, measuring, evaluating those pipes all the time."

Among the lines that run through the city, an Enbridge mainline in the north has been around for more than 60 years and the company says more than two million barrels of crude oil flow through the line every day.

In south Regina, a TransCanada pipe has shipped more than one billion barrels of crude oil from Alberta to the United States over its lifetime.

"Pipelines are the safest, cleanest, most efficient way to move oil and gas," MacKnight said.