The Fraser Institute: Pipelines Pose Fewer Risks for Workers and Less Spills Compared to Transporting Oil by Rail or Truck

October 16, 2013

CALGARY, ALBERTA- Oil transport by pipeline presents significantly lower safety risks to workers than oil movement by road or rail, concludes a study published today by the Fraser Institute, an independent, non-partisan Canadian public policy think-tank.

The study, Intermodal Safety in the Transport of Oil, determined that the rate of injury requiring hospitalization was 30 times lower among oil pipeline workers compared to rail workers involved in the transport of oil, based on extensive data collected in the United States. Road transport fared even worse, with an injury rate 37 times higher than pipelines based on reports to the U.S. Department of Transportation for the period 2005-2009.

The study also found the risk of spill incidents is lower for pipelines per billion ton-miles of oil movement compared to rail and road.

Resistance to pipeline infrastructure expansion is putting more pressure on road and rail systems as growth in North American oil production outpaces pipeline capacity. Petroleum production is now nearly 18 million barrels a day, and could climb to 27 million barrels a day by 2020.

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