The American Petroleum Institute today submitted comments on the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration鈥檚 (PHMSA) Safety of Hazardous Liquids Pipelines proposed rulemaking. This followed API President and CEO Jack Gerard highlighting earlier this week in his State of American Energy address that investments in US energy infrastructure are crucial not only for the oil and natural gas industry but also for overall economic growth and consumer savings.
Comments from API
鈥淪afety is our industry鈥檚 core value,鈥� said API Midstream Group Director Robin Rorick. 鈥淎merica鈥檚 more than 199 000 miles of liquid pipelines transport about 16 billion bbls of crude oil and petroleum products per year at a safety rate of 99.999%, and we need to make sure that federal regulations help improve this record, not hamper safety.鈥�
Since October 2010 when Congress first asked PHMSA to issue the rule, industry has succeeded in developing guidelines for operators to improve recognised safety practices. In fact, three new recommended practices were issued in 2015, alone.
鈥淲e commend PHMSA鈥檚 attempts to improve safety and provide important regulatory certainty for our industry, but we are still concerned that the proposal limits our companies鈥� ability to use their expertise to manage pipeline operation appropriately,鈥� Rorick said. 鈥淥perations vary significantly from pipeline to pipeline, so regulations need to allow for necessary engineering judgment and analysis, and a one-size-fits-all federal approach may create more harm than good.
鈥淥ur industry continues to lead on creating new standards to enhance pipeline safety, and we look forward to working with PHMSA to ensure this new rule works with ongoing industry efforts to achieve our joint goal of zero incidents.鈥�
Edited from source by