Pipeline Safety and Integrity for Energy Security

Reliable access to energy is the lifeblood of the modern world, powering everything from homes, to hospitals, to industrial manufacturing facilities. As global energy demand continues to rise in step with population growth and development, ensuring energy security has become a strategic priority for all nations. At the heart of energy reliability lies critical infrastructure, including but not limited to assets like power plants, power transmission lines, transmission pipelines for natural gas, oil, and refined petroleum products, as well as natural gas distribution pipelines.

Among these, pipelines serve an indispensable role in energy security. The millions of miles of oil and gas pipelines crisscrossing the landscape comprise an energy circulatory system in which supply continuity hinges on safe, efficient pipelines. However, accidental events like ruptures from natural disasters, third party excavations  and like activities can put people and the environment at risk, put energy security at risk through service disruptions, and cause commodity price fluctuations. With consequences such as these at risk, ensuring pipeline safety and integrity is paramount.

This article explores the crucial role of pipeline safety and damage prevention, in securing a reliable energy supply.

The Basics of Energy Security

What is Energy Security?

Energy security refers to the uninterrupted availability of energy sources, at an affordable price. It encompasses not just the supply of energy resources but also the reliability of critical energy infrastructure for fuel (natural gas, crude oil, refined products, natural gas liquids, and/or power) extraction, processing, transmission, and distribution. Energy security is vital for supporting modern life, providing economic growth, improving living standards, and sustaining all sectors, from agriculture to technology.

As the worldwide population expands in tandem with developmental progress, global energy demand has skyrocketed. According to industry projections, global energy consumption will rise by nearly 15% between 2021 and 2050, approaching 660 quadrillion British thermal units (Btu). This reflects surging energy needs across residential, commercial, and industrial domains, especially within emerging economies. Satisfying future energy demand will necessitate increased output across all sources, from fossil fuels to renewables. It also spotlights the need to reinforce energy infrastructure resilience, so that base reliable power generation growth continues to keep pace with the growth of more intermittent renewable power generation resources, in an “all of the above” approach that will help us advance our collective agenda to mitigate and reduce intensifying climate change impacts.

The backbone for providing energy security lies in complex, interconnected infrastructure systems. Seamless integration across this energy supply chain is imperative for delivering resources from production to end-use. Any vulnerabilities in links along this progression put supplies and economic stability at risk. As such, the safety and integrity of infrastructure constitute a key pillar of energy security.

Pipeline Infrastructure Overview

Pipelines are vital conduits that transport oil, natural gas, and other petroleum products across continents. They enable the transmission of resources between facilities such as production sites, refineries, storage hubs, and end-use markets. The pipeline network functions as an energy superhighway, delivering supplies essential for power generation, heating, transport, and industrial operations.

The natural gas pipeline system alone in the United States spans over 3 million miles. In 2022, this natural gas network transported approximately 29.2 trillion cubic feet of supply to 78.3 million consumers across residential, commercial, and industrial sectors. Enhancing pipeline safety and pipeline damage prevention through technology, real-time monitoring and control, rapid response, and design through robust engineering standards are key strategic priorities.

Pipeline Safety and Damage Prevention Explained

Natural Threats

Pipeline safety and integrity can be compromised by environmental perils, such as wildfires, earthquakes, landslides, extreme flooding, and soil erosion all of which could expose pipes or impair compression equipment and metering station equipment.

Human Threats

Human activities such as construction, excavation activity, and farming equipment intrusion are other culprits contributing to pipeline incidents. Unauthorized and unsupervised excavation pose key dangers to pipelines and people, if underground pipes are struck. As populations grow near transmission corridors, such anthropogenic hazards intensify.

Corrosion

Over time, and without the required and proper inspection and corrosion mitigation, pipeline materials would naturally degrade from corrosion due to surrounding soil and the elementsFortunately, modern pipeline operating safety regulations, modern pipeline design, and engineering specifications protect against this threat to pipeline integrity. Additionally, next-generation strategic control and data acquisition systems provide real-time condition monitoring, and autonomous controls, and next-generation internal inspection devices provide robust detection of even the smallest potential defects, before they occur.

​​Regulatory Frameworks and Standards

In the United States, pipeline safety standards, regulations, and compliance systems exist at both federal and state levels. Nationwide pipeline oversight falls under the Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA). PHMSA determines minimum federal safety standards regarding pipeline design, construction, testing, operation, and maintenance, and enforces compliance. In addition, individual states can choose stricter safety codes through state regulators.

Safety compliance is enacted through routine regulator and operator audits and inspections, with penalties for violations. Mandatory reporting requirements also exist for significant pipeline incidents, and injuries to personnel. .Ultimately, pipeline companies themselves remain responsible for regularly inspecting, updating, and monitoring private infrastructure. Federal and state regulators provide the guardrails and auditing to encourage safety investments and accountability.

The Nexus of Safety, Integrity, and Security

Ensuring pipeline infrastructure resilience requires an integrated approach between policymakers, industry leaders, and local communities. Pipelines are the arteries underpinning modern energy usage, quality of life, and economic vitality. As such, ensuring their integrity through a focus on safety and integrity provides the foundation for energy security. Both the public and private spheres have a shared responsibility to transform pipeline protection into an infrastructure priority.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is energy security and why is it important?

Energy security refers to reliable access to affordable energy sources. It underpins economic vitality, improves living standards, and sustains all sectors from agriculture to manufacturing. As global energy demands accelerate, ensuring an uninterrupted energy supply is crucial for national security and prosperity.

How do pipelines fit into the global energy infrastructure?

Pipelines are the backbone of the global energy transportation system. They provide a safe, efficient, and cost-effective means of moving oil, natural gas, and other energy resources from production sites to processing facilities, storage hubs, and ultimately, to end consumers. In the United States alone, a network of about 3 million miles of natural gas pipelines deliver trillions of cubic feet of natural gas to millions of consumers each year.

What are the most common threats to pipeline safety?

Pipeline integrity can be threatened by natural disasters, and human error activities such as improper and unsupervised excavation activities. Such hazards can cause ruptures, leaks or service disruptions, with potentially severe economic and environmental impacts.