Data collected from pipeline operators are made available to the public to identify trends and to measure performance or other related information on pipelines and pipeline infrastructure. PHMSA's goal is to provide transparent and quantifiable performance metrics, and to improve industry performance and communications in order to prevent pipeline incidents, accidents, injuries, and fatalities. PHMSA tracks data on the frequency of failures, incidents and accidents. PHMSA also analyzes the causes and the resulting consequences, and reports this data in various categories.

Crude Oil/Refined Petroleum/Biofuel Pipeline Performance Measures

In 2017, OPS worked with the Pipeline Safety Trust, the American Petroleum Institute, and the Association of Oil Pipe Lines to develop performance measures for pipeline systems transporting crude oil, refined petroleum, and biofuel. These commodities tend to remain liquid upon release from a pipeline system. Highly volatile liquids and carbon dioxide vaporize upon release and are excluded from the performance measures. You can view the measures by individual operator and by safety program. If the measure uses incident data, you can view details about the reports.

• Serious Incidents - rate per mile and causes.
• Accidents Impacting People or the Environment - rate per mile and volume spilled per barrel-mile transported. Displayed for all causes, Integrity Inspection target, and Operations and Maintenance target.
• Miles Inspected - miles inspected by inspection method.

Note: These performance measures do not include hazardous liquid gravity lines (§195.13) and reporting-regulated-only gathering lines (§195.15). Operators of these pipeline systems are required to comply with certain reporting regulations, but do not need to comply with any other portions of 195. Starting in 2021, information gathered through the annual and accident reports will be used to evaluate the risks of these pipes over time for potential future regulatory decision making. While the gravity and reporting-regulated-only gathering annual report and accident report data is excluded from the performance measures, the data are available through the Source Data files.

Gas Pipeline Performance Measures

In 2015, OPS worked with the Pipeline Safety Trust, the National Association of Pipeline Safety Representatives, the American Gas Association, the American Public Gas Association, and the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America to develop performance measures for gas distribution and gas transmission. Incidents, leaks, immediate repairs, excavation damages, and miles of higher risk material are used in the measures. You can view the measures by individual operator and by safety program. If the measure uses incident data, you can view details about the incident reports.

• Gas Distribution (GD) Performance Measures

  • Serious Incident Rate and Cause
  • Significant Incident Rate and Cause
  • Leaks
  • Excavation Damage
  • Higher-Risk Materials

• Gas Transmission (GT) Performance Measures

  • Serious Incident Rate and Cause
  • Onshore Significant Incident Rate and Cause
  • Onshore Significant Incident HCA
  • HCA Immediate Repairs
  • HCA Leaks
  • Higher-Risk Materials

Pipeline Mileage and Facilities

Pipeline Mileage and Facilities display nationwide and State tallies of pipeline operators, mileage, and facilities. The tallies are provided by commodity, pipeline material, and system type - gas distribution, gas gathering, gas transmission, hazardous liquids, and liquefied natural gas (LNG). You can download the source annual report data or view summaries:

• Pipeline Mileage and Facilities (2010 to present)
• Mileage Summary Statistics (1984 to present)
  • Gas Distribution Pipelines
  • Gas Gathering and Transmission Pipelines
  • Hazardous Liquid Pipelines
  • Liquefied Natural Gas Plants

Pipeline Incidents: 20-Year Trends

PHMSA's incident data trends use data submitted by pipeline operators and data created by PHMSA to facilitate the trend line displays. You can view or download these Pipeline Incident Flagged Files or download the raw incident data. Twenty-year trends are provided for each system type - gas distribution, gas gathering, gas transmission, hazardous liquids, and LNG - and three incident categories - serious incidents, significant incidents, and all reported incidents.

• Pipeline Incidents: 20-Year Trends
  • Serious Incidents
    "Serious Incidents" include a fatality or injury requiring in-patient hospitalization. Gas distribution incidents caused by a nearby fire or explosion that impacted the pipeline system are excluded from this definition.
  • Significant Incidents
    "Significant Incidents" are those including any of the following conditions: (1) Fatality or injury requiring in-patient hospitalization; (2) $50,000 or more in total costs, measured in 1984 dollars; (3) Highly volatile liquid releases of 5 barrels or more or other liquid releases of 50 barrels or more; and (4) Liquid releases resulting in an unintentional fire or explosion. Gas distribution incidents caused by a nearby fire or explosion that impacted the pipeline system are excluded from this definition.
  • All Reported Incidents

Excavation Damage - Incidents, Leaks, and Damages

Excavation damage to gas and hazardous liquid pipelines is a leading cause of life-threatening incidents, but they can be prevented. PHMSA tracks incidents by cause, including excavation damage to pipelines.  We also collect data on the causes of leaks and excavation damages.

• Incidents, Leaks, and Damages Caused by Excavation Damage

Integrity Management (IM) Performance Metrics

Since 2004, pipeline operators under PHMSA's jurisdiction have been required to submit performance measure reports for hazardous liquid and gas transmission pipeline infrastructure covered by Integrity Management (IM) programs. PHMSA uses data from these reports to monitor and report on industry progress in meeting the requirements of the hazardous liquid and gas transmission IM rules, to prioritize operators for future agency inspections, and to respond to inquiries about PHMSA's oversight program. The IM rules specify performance metrics that are to be measured, tracked, and - in certain cases - reported to PHMSA.

• Hazardous Liquid IM Performance tracks pipeline mileage, large spills, incident trends, numbers of miles inspected/ assessed, and repairs in High Consequence Areas (HCAs).
• Gas Transmission IM Performance tracks pipeline mileage, significant incidents, failures, numbers of miles inspected/ assessed (both baseline and reassessment), repairs, and leaks in HCAs versus in non-HCAs.
• Gas Distribution IM Performance (DIMP) shows total leaks eliminated and repaired, data on the causes of gas distribution incidents (e.g., excavation damage), and information emergency flow valves (EFV's).
• Gas Gathering Performance Metrics shows total leaks eliminated and repaired, including leak cause, and data on the causes of incidents for Types A, B, C, Offshore, and R gas gathering.

Incidents and Leaks Repaired on Federal Land or Outer Continental Shelf (OCS)

Incidents and Leaks Repaired on Federal Land or OCS display tallies of incidents and leaks by system type and cause. Users can find incident and leak causes by clicking on the blue figures in the number columns. Leak data is included in the Annual Reports pipeline operators submit to PHMSA. Federal lands are all lands the United States owns, including military reservations, with the exception of National parks and lands held in trust for Native Americans. The OCS includes all submerged lands lying seaward of state coastal waters which are under U.S. jurisdiction.

• Incidents and Leaks Repaired on Federal Land or Outer Continental Shelf (OCS)