Pipeline Safety - Over 30 Years of Improvement

The oil pipeline industry's spill record has improved substantially over the last 30 years. The annual number of spills or other safety incidents has decreased by over 50% and the volume of oil spilled has decreased by about 60%.

In the six years from 1968 through 1973, the pipeline system experienced 359 incidents per year that were reportable to the Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS), resulting in an average annual volume of oil spilled of 368,000 barrels.

The averages for the most recent six years, 1995-2000, have been reduced to 170 incidents and 147,000 barrels spilled per year.

For the year 2001, the pipeline industry experienced 129 incidents with 50,857 barrels spilled, well below the 6-year average.

Furthermore, the volume spilled from line pipe has fallen more rapidly than that from other parts of the system such as tank farms and pump stations. (Spills from line pipe are more likely to be disruptive to the surrounding community, while tank farms and pump stations are generally on company property, with barriers to protect non-company property.)

Source: Allegro Energy Group, 2001

Pipelines have a better safety record (deaths, injuries, fires/explosions) than other modes of oil transportation. This is especially true relative to trucks. Over 1995-2000, truck incidents resulted in 60 times more deaths, 40 times more injuries, and 35 times more fires and/or explosions than pipeline incidents did, based on rates per ton-mile of oil moved.

The comparisons cover the 1995-2000 period, reflecting data availability during mid-2001. To make the comparisons valid, the incident data were adjusted both for the different reporting criteria and for the vast differences in the typical volume and distance of oil movements by each mode of transport.

Click here to learn more and view the complete report, The US Oil Pipelines Industry's Safety Performance, Allegro Energy Group, February 2003

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