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Phillips 66 earns two of industry’s top awards for pipeline safety

Phillips 66’s record-setting pipeline safety performance in 2020 has earned it two of the industry’s top honors.  

Phillips 66 Pipeline LLC, a wholly owned Midstream subsidiary of Phillips 66, was presented with the American Petroleum Institute’s Distinguished Pipeline Safety Award in the large-operator category on April 20 during the organization’s virtual Pipeline, Control Room and Cybernetics Conference.  

It was Phillips 66 Pipeline’s first time winning the best-in-class award from API, the largest trade organization for the natural gas and oil industry. 

“2020 was a record year for our Phillips 66 team in terms of our health, safety and environmental performance,” said Todd Denton, Vice President of Midstream Operations at Phillips 66. “Our employees and contractors accomplished this outstanding performance while commissioning and placing into full service the largest pipeline project in our company’s history and starting up a major NGL expansion project at our Sweeny Hub, all while managing through the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.” 

Phillips 66 also notched honors from GPA Midstream Association, a large trade organization serving the U.S. midstream industry. The honors included a Perfect Record Award, presented to companies with no lost-time incidents, and a second-place Division 2 Safety Award, for companies recording between 200,000 and 999,000 operational work-hours, specific to NGL assets only.  

‘Example for the industry’ 

Phillips 66 Midstream’s portfolio includes more than 22,000 miles of crude oil, refined petroleum products and natural gas liquid pipeline systems in the U.S., including those partially owned or operated by the company’s affiliates.  

Phillips 66 Pipeline achieved zero employee recordable injuries, zero pipeline system release events and zero significant vehicle accidents to lead the industry in 2020.  

API cited the company’s use of a comprehensive risk modeling and Health, Safety and Environment management system as key to the record-setting performance. It also said Phillips 66’s cutting-edge research and development has the potential to improve pipeline safety for the entire industry. 

API President and CEO Mike Sommers said Phillips 66 serves as an “example for an industry that is committed to the continuous advancement of safety.” 

‘A journey that never ends’ 

Phillips 66 Pipeline’s performance came as it delivered key growth projects. These included the Gray Oak Pipeline — the 850-mile pipeline now transporting crude oil from West Texas and the Eagle Ford Shale to demand centers along the Texas Gulf Coast — and the Sweeny Hub Phase 2 project. The latter added 300,000 barrels per day of NGL fractionation and pipeline capacity along with 7 million barrels of storage at nearby Clemens Caverns in Brazoria, Texas.  

“At Phillips 66, we are on a journey of building a culture that places the highest priority on the safety of our people, our communities and the environment,” Denton said. “It’s a journey that never ends, and one that demands we continuously strive for further improvement.”