Oklahoma is known for its severe weather. After each of the awful tornados that swept through the state this spring, people asked if the energy infrastructure had been affected.
Cushing, the nation's largest crude oil storage hub, fared very well despite Mother Nature's fury.
Emergency response protocols ensure the safety of the environment, plant operations and employees if a storm were to approach Cushing. The hub has these safety measures in place to make certain the 50 million barrels of crude oil stored there on any given day are maintained safely in tanks or other containment facilities.
Cushing is not the only area of the country where the oil pipeline industry is practicing heavy safety precautions. The industry spent more than $1.1 billion in 2011 alone on pipeline safety and storage tank safety - inspecting, evaluating and maintaining these assets for safe operation. In the last decade alone, pipeline releases are down 59 percent, which tells us that our safety efforts are paying off immensely.
While the improvement is exciting, pipeline operators are serious about safety, and ultimately strive for zero accidents.
There are a few main tactics utilized by pipeline operators to continually monitor and improve safety.
Embracing safety culture is easily the most discussed issue during industry meetings. Pipeline operators share best practices and discuss what they have learned from experience, which includes dissecting the specifics of prior incidents.
All of these efforts result in a greater than 99.999 percent reliability record of the liquid pipeline mode of transportation - far safer than any comparable mode of transportation.
Even with the magnitude of evidence proving the safety and efficiency of the pipeline industry, Keystone XL's request for a federal permit to build and transport crude oil from the Canadian oil sands region has drawn plenty of attention.
A fact that is surprising to many is that Keystone XL would not be the first to transport crude oil from western Canada. Crude from the oil sands has been transported via U.S. pipelines for decades.
If a permit is issued, Americans can expect Keystone XL's support of manufacturing jobs, construction jobs, and jobs in finance, insurance and professional services to surround one of the safest pipelines ever built.
As Oklahoma is central in the United States, it strongly holds the position of being an oil pipeline hub. Without a doubt, that state is the main crossroads in the oil pipeline industry.
Support for the new Keystone XL pipeline has been consistently strong in the U.S., particularly in Oklahoma. Polling continues to show a growing number of Americans who see not only the financial benefit of Keystone XL's new project, but the efficiency of the pipelines combined with the environmental and safety benefits it will provide Americans and our country.
Andrew Black is president and CEO of the Association of Oil Pipe Lines. He was recently featured at a Tulsa Press Club Page One Luncheon speaking on various matters relating to safety in the oil pipeline industry.
The views expressed here are those of the author and not necessarily the Tulsa World. To inquire about writing a Business Viewpoint column, email a short outline of the article to Business Editor Rod Walton at
rod.walton@tulsaworld.com. The column should focus on a business trend; the outlook for the city, state or an industry; or a topic of interest in an area of the writer's expertise. Articles should not promote a business or be overly political in nature.
Original Print Headline: Oil pipelines have solid safety record
Business Viewpoint
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