Incidenthistorical
PHMSA Report 20230106
NOBLE ENERGY INC — Hazardous liquid gravity and reporting-regulated-only — incident on 2023-11-06
Current as of 2023-11-06 Government source
RegulusPipeline researchRegulusPipeline researchPHMSA Report 20230106
Hazardous liquid gravity and reporting-regulated-only incident in PECOS, REEVES County, TX. Reported cause: CORROSION FAILURE. Reported consequences: 0 fatalities, 0 injuries, 132 CRUDE OIL released, $25,000 reported property damage. Operator-reported incident data submitted to PHMSA, generally within 30 days. Records may be supplemented or corrected and do not represent final agency causal findings.
Report number: 20230106.
Operator ID: 40379.
Reported incident date: 11/6/2023 11:00.
Cause detail: INTERNAL CORROSION
Cause detail: OPERATOR EMPLOYEE WAS TRAVELING THE RIGHT-OF-WAY DURING ROUTINE OPERATIONS AND NOTICED OIL ON THE GROUND. EMPLOYEE NOTIFIED PRODUCTION SUPERVISOR OF RELEASE AND CREW WAS DISPATCHED TO SITE TO ISOLATE THE AFFECTED PIPELINE AND DRAIN THE LINE FILL VIA VAC TRUCKS. FOLLOWING DAY PIPELINE WAS EXCAVATED TO FIND FAILURE POINT, CLAMP WAS INSTALLED ON AFFECTED PIPE, AND PIPE WAS FLUSHED WITH WATER FIRST, FOLLOWED BY AIR (WITH PIGS) TO REMOVE REMAINING PRODUCT. ONCE PIPELINE WAS HYDROCARBON FREE, REMEDIATION WORK COMMENCED BY REMOVING AFFECTED SOIL. REMEDIATION WORK IS STILL IN PROGRESS AT TIME OF THIS REPORT WITH PLAN BEING TO REMOVE ALL AFFECTED SOIL AND REPLACE WITH CLEAN SOIL. AFFECTED SOIL IS BEING TRANSPORTED TO DISPOSAL SITE FOR FURTHER PROCESSING. PERMANENT REPAIRS TO PIPELINE SEGMENT ARE ALSO IN PROGRESS CONSISTING OF REMOVING AFFECTED PIPE AND REPLACEMENT WITH NEW PIPE. ROOT CAUSE INVESTIGATION FOLLOWING COMPANY PROCESSES IN IN PROGRESS AND FINAL REPORT HAS NOT BEEN ISSUED AT THE TIME OF THIS REPORT. INITIAL INDICATIONS ARE THAT FAILURE WAS DUE TO INTERNAL CORROSION EXACERBATED BY HIGH WATER CONTENT IN CRUDE OIL AND LOW FLOW RATE CONDITIONS. UPDATE: 3/22/2024 FINDINGS FROM INTERNAL INVESTIGATION: ' LEAK OCCURRED ON AN 8" UNDERGROUND ANSI 150 FLOW LINE. ' SOURCE OF LEAK WAS FROM A 1/4" HOLE FOUND IN THE LINE, DETERMINED TO BE CAUSED BY INTERNAL CORROSION. ' LEAK RESULTED IN A RELEASE OF 132 BBLS OF CRUDE TO PIPELINE RIGHT OF WAY. ' IMMEDIATELY, ISOLATED AND DEPRESSURIZED LINE. ' TODAY, THE LINE IS STILL SHUT-IN AND EXECUTION IS IN PROGRESS TO REPAIR ENTIRE LINE. INVESTIGATION WITH TEXAS RAILROAD COMMISSION SCHEDULED FOR 3/26/2024.
This material provides agency context. It does not replace binding regulatory text, and its legal effect depends on the underlying authority and facts.