Updated June 2025
Pipelines transport many different products that are used for a variety of purposes. For example, pipelines carry raw oilfield production from wells to processing facilities and finished petroleum products to market. Regardless of the use, each pipeline must be closely monitored and maintained. Through the Pipeline Act, Pipeline Rules, and CSA Group standards, the AER regulates companies over the life cycle of their pipelines. By overseeing pipeline design, construction, operation, discontinuation, and abandonment, we help prevent incidents and hold companies accountable for their actions throughout the life cycle of the pipeline.
Under the industry performance program, we release an annual Pipeline Performance Report, which includes information about pipeline incidents. This year’s report covers the period from 2020 to 2024 and also includes a chart showing the ten-year trend (2015 through 2024) of incidents and total length.
The AER regulates high-pressure oil and gas pipelines solely within the borders of Alberta. However, the Alberta Utilities Commission (AUC) regulates high-pressure gas utility pipelines in Alberta. We manage incidents and inspections for high-pressure gas utility pipelines on behalf of the AUC under a memorandum of understanding between the AUC and AER. The Canada Energy Regulator (CER) typically regulates oil and gas pipelines that cross provincial or international borders. For more information, see Pipelines in Alberta: what landowners need to know.
Although this report discusses only pipeline incidents and information relating to AER-regulated pipelines, information on AUC-regulated pipelines is available using the table and figure filters. The AER does not collect data on CER-regulated pipelines.
In 2024, there were about 32% fewer incidents than in 2015, even though the total pipeline length grew by 7% in the same period. The 2024 pipeline incident rate was 0.68 per 1000 kilometres (km) of pipeline compared with 1.07 in 2015.
The improvement in pipeline incident rates is likely attributable to advancements in industry practices, such as the implementation of enhanced safety loss management systems and integrity management programs. These progressions are further supported by ongoing regulatory initiatives aimed at refining pipeline requirements and inspection protocols. Additionally, our efforts to educate the industry on pipeline safety have likely fostered greater alignment with safety and operational standards. The number of incidents has trended downwards over the past ten years. The number of high-consequence incidents has decreased steadily since 2015.
Figure 1 shows the relationship of incidents and total length of regulated pipelines for the past ten years.
2024 Highlights
- The number of pipeline incidents in Alberta decreased 12% from 350 in 2023 to 307 in 2024. About 90% of incidents were rated as “low consequence,” 9% as “medium consequence,” and only 1% as “high consequence.” See the glossary for the definition of incident consequence ratings.
- The number of pipeline incidents rated as a high consequence decreased slightly, from 8 incidents in 2022 to 7 in 2023.
- The high-consequence incidents involved pipelines carrying produced water (water from a wellbore produced as a by-product of oil and gas production), oil-well effluent (a mixture of unrefined oil, gas, and produced water), or sour natural gas.
- The annual incident ratio decreased to 0.68 incidents per 1000 km of regulated pipeline as compared to 0.79 in 2023. Produced water pipelines had an overall pipeline incident rate of 1.94, oil effluent pipelines had a rate of 1.49, sour natural gas pipelines had a rate of 0.77, and natural gas pipelines had a rate of 0.26.
- Internal corrosion remains the leading cause of pipeline incidents at 43%, which is a slight increase from the year prior (42%).
- About 72% of pipeline incidents involved no release of fluids or releases of one cubic metre (m3; about 6 barrels) or less.
- The largest release of fluids in 2024 was 450 m3 of non-fresh water (produced water) and hydrocarbons.
- In 2024, there was a 32% decrease in pipeline incidents related to contact damage during ground disturbance (34 incidents in 2023 compared to 23 in 2024). While the decrease is encouraging, this is still an important focus area for the AER. We continue to work with industry, Utility Safety Partners (formerly Alberta One-Call), and stakeholders not regulated by the AER to educate and promote safe digging.
