Pipeline Report Shows Fewer Incidents

Liquid pipeline incidents impacting people or the environment decreased by more than one-third over the last five years as pipeline mileage and barrels delivered went up during same period, concludes a new report from the American Petroleum Institute (API) and the Association of Oil Pipe Lines (AOPL).

“Pipelines are the safest and most environmentally friendly way of transporting the energy Americans rely on every day,” API Pipeline Manager David Murk remarked in a written statement announcing the release API and AOPL’s 2019 Pipeline Safety Excellence Performance Report and 2020-2022 Strategic Plan.

API and AOPL prepared the report using publicly available government-collected performance data from the U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA). According to API, five-year trends that the new report identifies include:

• Total liquid pipeline incidents impacting people or the environment fell 36 percent and total pipeline incidents decreased 17 percent.
• The number of pipeline incidents impacting people or the environment caused by corrosion, cracking or weld failure dropped by 50 percent.
• Pipeline incidents impacting people or the environment caused by equipment failure declined by 15 percent.
• Liquid pipeline mileage rose nearly 10 percent, including a 20-percent increase in crude oil pipelines, and total barrels delivered went up 35 percent from 2014.

“While pipeline operators are proud they are reducing the number of pipeline incidents, they are working hard to decrease them even further,” AOPL President and CEO Andy Black in regard to the pipeline safety improvement strategic plan his organization and API created.

The strategic plan outlines the pipeline industry’s efforts over the next three years to advance organizational excellence, technology and innovation, emergency response preparedness and stakeholder awareness and engagement, API explained.

The five-year pipeline safety performance report and three-year strategic plan are available on API and AOPL’s website.

To contact the author, email mveazey@rigzone.com.