Innovation and Technology for Pipeline System Safety

Mark Green
Posted March 20, 2018

Through advanced technologies, innovative thinking and practices, the natural gas and oil industry is good at what it does, which is safely supplying the leading energy sources for the U.S. economy and Americans’ modern way of life.

But here’s the thing: While technology and innovation certainly describe today’s natural gas and oil industry, they must be accompanied by things like accountability, attention to detail and old-fashioned hard work by the women and men who work in it. Facility Integrity Manager Leslie Fangue of Plains All American is one of them. Her story is one of the “spotlight” features in API’s State of American Energy report.

In the video below, Leslie describes the way she and professionals with other pipeline companies maintain the safety and functionality of the country’s 208,000-mile energy infrastructure network:

The absolute commitment to “doing the right thing,” as Leslie describes it, certainly is facilitated by technology and innovation – the tools and the processes that sustain pipeline system integrity. Here are a few pipeline-specific technologies we discussed in the annual report:

Put technology and professional expertise together and you get a pipeline system with an exemplary safety record – 99.999 percent of crude oil and petroleum products delivered by pipeline reaching their destinations safely. 

As good as 99.999 percent is, our industry continues to work toward zero incidents and a 100 percent safety record. Thanks to continuously improving materials, safety measures, monitoring and detection technologies – and the efforts of professionals like Leslie Fangue – we believe it’s possible.