How Satellite Technology Helped a Leading Spanish Operator Detect 73% of Overlooked Pipeline Threats

Results at a glance

• 73% of issues missed by other methods like helicopters were identified by LiveEO’s SurfaceScout Monitoring, making it a game-changing tool.
  
  
• The percentage of relevant predictions delivered, compared to all predictions, increased to 82% after just seven monitoring cycles. This number typically starts at around 60% and rises quickly after 3-4 deliveries, thanks to the close collaboration between LiveEO and the customer.
  
  
• By reducing the software tools needed from four to three, manual operations are minimized, leading to greater efficiency and saving around 4 hours per week.

Challenges

A leading energy operator in Spain, responsible for the safe transport and storage of vital energy resources, faced growing challenges in safeguarding its extensive network of pipelines.

The operator's existing methods for detecting third-party interferences (TPIs)—which included monthly helicopter inspections—were proving insufficient in identifying potential risks before they escalated into major incidents.

With increasing pressures to enhance safety, reduce fatalities, and prevent costly disruptions, the company sought a more effective solution to maintain the integrity of its pipeline infrastructure.

The operator's traditional approach to TPI management involved a complex and disjointed process. The reliance on helicopters for monitoring, coupled with the use of multiple software platforms, led to several critical issues:

• High Rate of False Positives: In one year, out of 14,000 observations from 2,000 km of pipeline inspections, only 400 were identified as actual issues—just 2.8% of the total observations. This inefficiency led to unnecessary field investigations and resource wastage.
  
  
• Limited Detection of Organized Changes: The operator struggled to detect well-organized, planned activities, such as tree plantations or building construction. Helicopter pilots often overlooked these as benign, not recognizing them as potential threats. However, many of these activities were undeclared or illegal, posing significant risks to pipeline safety.
  
  
• Non-Integrated Systems: The process involved transferring data across at least four different software tools, creating a steep learning curve for operators and increasing the likelihood of errors during data handling.

Solution: Satellite-Based Monitoring

To address these challenges, the operator implemented SurfaceScout Monitoring, a cutting-edge satellite-based monitoring solution from LiveEO, powered by advanced AI and machine learning technologies. This solution was designed to offer a more precise, timely, and integrated approach to detecting third-party interferences across the pipeline network.

Key Components of the Solution:

• Satellite Imagery with High Precision: The solution provided by LiveEO utilizes high-resolution satellite imagery to monitor the pipeline corridors. This allows for the detection of even the smallest environmental changes, such as logging activity clearance or unauthorized construction, that can indicate potential third-party interferences.
  
  
• AI-Driven Insights: LiveEO’s powerful AI capabilities automatically identified and classified risks, significantly reducing false positives and ensuring that only relevant threats were flagged for further investigation. On top of this, LiveEO had a fully dedicated Quality Assessment team that ensured the insights delivered were highly relevant and tailored to their specific needs. This, combined with the high level of commitment from the customer during the first six deliveries, ensured that the solution was fine-tuned and highly tailored to their unique operational requirements.
  
  
• Integrated Digital Workflow: The new system streamlines the operator’s workflow by reducing the number of software tools required from four to three, and directly integrating with the operator’s existing digital infrastructure, including the Esri platform. This integration eliminates the need for manual data entry, reducing errors and increasing efficiency.

Results

The implementation of SurfaceScout Monitoring led to significant improvements in the operator's ability to detect and manage third-party interferences, as well as substantial operational and financial benefits.

Quantitative Results:

• Increased Detection Accuracy: The accuracy of detecting TPIs increased dramatically, with precision rates reaching 83% overall and up to 95% in the latest inspection cycles.
• Enhanced Relevancy: The relevancy of detected issues improved to 42% after just four inspection cycles.
• Reduction in Manual Operations: The streamlined workflow saved the operator over four hours per week in manual operations, allowing field crews to focus on more critical tasks.

Financial Impact Forecast:

• Pipeline incidents reduced from 1.8 to 0.48 annually, saving approximately €2.5 million in potential damages.
  
  
• Early detection of 73% of previously overlooked critical third party interferences, led to significant cost savings and enhanced safety.
  
  
• Reduced environmental risks through faster, more accurate detection and response to unauthorized activities.

Conclusions

Satellite-based monitoring for damage prevention proved to be a highly valuable asset in supporting a large Spanish oil pipeline operator’s third-party interference risk management plan.

The solution not only identified critical issues that were missed by helicopter inspections but also matched the detection capabilities of the operator's existing methods. This significantly reduced the false positive rate and improved the accuracy of threat detection. The streamlined process allowed for quicker delivery of actionable insights, providing the operator with timely and reliable information.

Increased efficiency also saved considerable time in manual operations, while contributing to significant cost savings by reducing the risk of pipeline incidents. 

Moreover, the solution's environmental benefits were notable, as it enabled the early detection of unauthorized activities that conventional methods had overlooked.

The strong collaboration and field engagement from the customer, paired with expert domain feedback, were essential in refining the system's accuracy and relevancy.