30 Years of Improvement
An analysis of the historical record shows that the oil pipeline industry's safety performance has improved significantly over the last 30 years. These improvements correlate with advancements in technology as well as increased environmental awareness.
The annual number of spills has decreased by nearly 40%. Over the last 30 years the number of spills has also dropped from an average of 318 in the first six years (1969 - 74) to the most recent six year running average of 197 spills nationwide.
Today's median spill is one-third the size of thirty years ago. From 1969-74, the median spill volume (half the spills are smaller, half larger) for incidents in the Office of Pipeline Safety database was 290 barrels. In the latest six year period, it had dropped to 100 barrels - one-third the size of 30 years ago. The annual volume of oil spilled from pipeline systems has fallen by about 60%, based on six year running averages.
Safest Oil Transportation Mode
Pipelines operate more safely than any other mode of oil transportation. In the following table, the numbers show how much more likely a transportation mode is to have an accident of a particular type compared to an oil pipeline. For example, truck accidents result in deaths at least 87 times more often than pipeline accidents. Likewise, truck accidents result in fires and/or explosions about 35 times more frequently per barrel of oil transported per mile. (These figures include only accidents involving petroleum shipments, not all accidents for a given transportation mode.)
Accident Rates of Petroleum Transportation Methods
Values less/more than 1.0 indicate risk of accident is lower/greater than pipeline transportation.
| Death | Fire/Explosion | Injury | |
| Truck | 87.3 | 34.7 | 2.3 |
| Rail | 2.7 | 8.6 | 0.1 |
| Barge | 0.2 | 4.0 | 3.6 |
| Tank Ship | 4.0 | 1.2 | 3.1 |
Comparisons based on calculated rates per ton-mile. (Source: Allegro Energy Group)
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