Protecting Oil Pipelines

Assaults on oil infrastructure and the added cost of protecting key facilities have added a “fear premium” of roughly $10 per barrel. The cause and effect are not lost on terrorists whose aim is to inflict economic as well as physical damage. “The killing of 10 American soldiers is nothing compared to the impact of the rise in oil prices on America and the disruption that it causes in the international economy,” exhorts one jihadist website.

To protect pipelines from attack, a number of issue can be considered, for example:

Design. The cheapest and most effective protection is to prevent easy access by surrounding pipelines by walls and fences, and making the pipes harder to sabotage by burying them. To further protect pipes, they can be wrapped in carbon fibre to mitigate the effects of explosive devices. Facilities that must be above ground, such as compressor and pumping stations, can be encased in concrete thick enough to resist bomb blasts.

Private armies. In Iraq, close to 14,000 security guards have been deployed along pipelines and in critical installations. Companies tried paying tribes and powerful warlords to protect pipes on their territory with limited success. Rival tribes would often blow up a pipeline and then claim to be more deserving of the protection money.

Sensing Systems. New technologies for seismic sensing of underground vibrations can provide early warning when saboteurs approach a protected area. Such systems may be expensive, but by making possible the remote monitoring of much of the pipeline network, operators can eliminate the need for large numbers of troops and instead rely on smaller numbers of rapid-response teams.

Air surveillance. small and medium-size unmanned aerial vehicles and unmanned helicopters can stay in the air up to 30 hours and send images to a central control station where they can be reviewed by security teams. Some defence contractors are developing UAVs mounted with automatic weapons to be used against saboteurs.

Recovery time. When an attack does occur, its effect can be minimized with speedy repairs. Saboteurs often target pipelines at critical junctions or hit custom-made parts that take longer to replace. Operators should be equipped with sufficient inventories of spare parts.

Excerpt from "Pipeline Opens New Front In Afghan War"