Successful bomb detection on Oklahoma pipeline supports effective safety measures - expert

Last week, an improvised explosive device was discovered attached to an Oklahoma natural gas pipeline. The FBI and local authorities worked quickly to remove and safely diffuse the bomb, as well as arrest a suspect in the incident.

While much of the country was satisfied knowing that the suspect was apprehended, the oil and gas industry and midstream sector in particular remain vigilant in keeping energy infrastructure safe in the US -- and this attempted bombing is an example of that.

PennEnergy.com was able to get some insight from former CIA officer Fred Enochs, now a partner in Washington, DC-based TD International, a strategic advisory firm. Working in Houston, Enochs specializes in domestic and international energy, finance and commodity trading with a focus on government policy issues and project due diligence.

Enochs contends that the US has ample safety measures in place to ensure security for its pipelines and energy infrastructure.

"Following 9/11, energy infrastructure, including midstream assets, underwent a very thorough review and assessment process which encompassed extensive safety and security risk reviews," Enochs said. "These reviews determined the appropriate measures and response procedures based upon the overall threat, vulnerabilities and consequences."

Because of the amount of pipelines -- thousands of miles -- physically paroling the systems would prove impossible, but high-tech solutions have provided the next best thing. A combination of electronic and control room monitoring, redundancy and response measures help to keep pipelines across the US safe.

"For instance, a typical pipeline is supervised 24 hours a day by control room technicians using systems such as SCADA and checked regularly by field staff," Enochs said. "Of course their main focus is keeping the pipeline in operating order, but security measures are also built into this protocol."

"The risk assessment process also allows operators to focus their security and safety efforts, using tools like surveillance systems and actual manual checks, on the most critical areas of the pipelines thus ensuring the best use of resources," he added.

Enochs contends that our pipelines do not require any increased safety measures such as those enacted, somewhat successfully, in other regions of the world, because of the stable infrastructure in the US today.

Areas in South America, the Middle East and West Africa have a different risk profile than the US, because of increased poverty and greater threat of terrorism, as well as military strife, Enochs stated.

"For instance, in Columbia the FARC was a guerrilla terrorist group which tried in the past to harm the government by damaging pipelines in order to disrupt the nation's energy supply; while in the Nigeria Delta today you have various groups competing for political and economic power using pipelines and the country's energy infrastructure as a weapon in their arsenal," Enochs said.

The US has appropriate security measures and responses in place according to its risk assessment, he explained.

"It's about protecting the areas that have the most overall risk, which is a function of determining the threat probability, the consequence of a successful attack and your vulnerability to that attack," Enochs said. "The risk assessment methodology that has been applied allows these operators to make the best use of the resources that are available and ensures that the most critical areas are properly protected."

While suspenseful, the Oklahoma pipeline attempted bombing proves his midstream safety assessment. The bomb was quickly discovered, removed and diffused, and the man suspected of planting the device has been arrested.

Rest assured: They're on it.


Phaedra Friend Troy is the content director for PennEnergy.com, an all-energy website that provides oil and gas, power and infrastructure news, analysis, reports and more. Sign up for a free daily enewsletter today.