STEPS / PIOGA’s Safety Committee 4th Qtr. Meeting

The peer-led program is designed for terminal operators and focuses on health and safety topics affecting terminal operations. Presentations use firsthand operating experiences to discuss incidents, responses, and lessons learned. Sessions address Colonial Pipeline’s “Stuff That Kills You” model for high-energy risks in hazardous work environments; ITC’s cultural, engineering, and reliability changes following the Deer Park fire, including API 653, risk-based inspection, preventive and predictive maintenance; and electrical heat-tracing hazards on movable piping, including design, inspection, testing, and preventive maintenance. Other topics include flammable refrigerants used with LPG, LNG, and specialty chemicals; emergency response and causes of a product spill; corrective actions following an unintended gasoline release during pig retrieval; systems thinking and human performance in terminal-to-barge personnel transfers; and task-focused local plant safety meetings. The program also covers investigation of a leaking aboveground storage tank, including leak identification, nondestructive inspections, and destructive testing. Registration is limited to terminal member companies.

The program spans chemical engineering, process industries, and process safety. Spring Meeting topics include process intensification; automation, data analytics, and machine learning in Industry 4.0; ethylene production; gas processing, conversion, and utilization; refinery operations; distillation; petrochemical processing; and energy-transition technologies, policies, and industry strategies. The AI and Energy Nexus and Chemical Engineering & the Law are also listed as program areas. Process-safety programming includes the Center for Chemical Process Safety (CCPS) International Conference, the Process Plant Safety Symposium (PPSS), the Annual Loss Prevention Symposium (LPS), the Process Safety Management Mentoring (PSM2) Symposium, and a Process Safety Topical Conference. Listed subjects include process-safety management practices, plant-level methods and tools, explosion prevention, fire protection, lessons from incident investigations, hydrogen production, storage and use, and process-safety issues affecting regions around the world.

The Ohio Oil & Gas Association’s principal business meeting covers current issues impacting Ohio’s oil and gas industry through business sessions, breakout sessions, and a trade show. Agenda topics include the Debrosse Memorial Report on 2026 oil and gas activity in Ohio; an Ohio Natural Energy Institute program update; a Division of Oil and Gas Resources Management regulatory update; a Federal Political Perspective; and a State Legislative Leadership Discussion. The program also lists an Ohio Geological Society session and legal continuing-education sessions. Several session titles and breakout presentations remain TBD. The program includes the Oilfield Patriot Award ceremony and the Thomas E Stewart Legacy Award presentation.

The November 10 workshop begins work on revising API Standard 1163, ILI Systems Qualification, from its 3rd edition toward a 4th edition, gathering initial input from industry subject-matter experts. The November 11 PIX forum focuses on pipeline operators sharing information and lessons learned from pipeline incidents, near misses, industry practices, and improvements to pipeline safety programs. Agenda topics include API data tools for pipeline operating companies; offshore pipeline operations; H2S sour-service management; dynamic pressure-wave methods for locating pipeline obstructions; personnel and excavation safety; hot-work mitigation; integrity management, waterway crossings, crack penetrators, leak-volume estimation, valve failures, and pipeline repairs; workforce development through internships and co-op programs; AI applications in integrity management; and public engagement and damage prevention. The PIX day is for pipeline operating company representatives; the separate workshop is open to interested participants.

The program focuses on cybersecurity for the oil and natural gas industry, with an emphasis on safety, best practices, innovation, and resilience. Listed subjects include application security and SecDevOps; compliance and new regulations; ICS cybersecurity; identity and access management; cyber incident management; next-generation SOC and security orchestration; generative AI platform risks and security; zero trust; threat hunting and threat intelligence; cyber insurance; the human element; and cybersecurity architecture. The program also includes a CISO leadership panel, a cyber incident management workshop, an API conference retrospective and past-chair panel, and the keynote session “AI Made Me Do It: Confessions of an AI-Era CISO.”

The conference theme is “Pipeline to Possibilities: Securing Energy, Shaping Futures.” Stakeholder Engagement & Outreach covers community and public engagement, API Recommended Practices 1162 and 1185, environmental justice, Tribal and First Nation considerations, emergency responder education, and damage prevention. Pipeline Operational Excellence addresses safety performance, in-line inspection lessons, pipeline safety management systems, safety culture, management of change, asset remediation, and operational and enterprise risk management. Technology, AI & Innovation includes inspection tools, engineering practices, control room technologies, artificial intelligence, API RP 1165, and emerging fuels. Workforce Training & Development covers succession planning, knowledge transfer, recruitment and retention, multigenerational workforces, operator qualification, inspector certification, and competency-based learning. Sustainability & New Fuels addresses CO2, hydrogen and other low-carbon fuels; safety, integrity, leak detection, corrosion management, emergency preparedness, methane emissions, and environmental stewardship. Other tracks address pipeline construction, project management, commissioning, major maintenance, contract management and trenchless technologies; leak detection systems and predictive analytics; SCADA/OT modernization, industrial control system cybersecurity, threat response and regulatory compliance; and alarm and control room management, including fatigue mitigation, controller training, management of change, records, and regulatory interpretations.

The technical program covers pipeline integrity management, in-line inspection (ILI), engineering assessments, geohazards, crack and dent assessment, seam-weld threats, repairs, and hydrogen transportation. Plenary topics include operator guidelines and specifications, technical knowledge management, assessing existing pipelines for hydrogen service, selective seam-weld corrosion, and PHMSA MAOP reconfirmation requirements. Parallel technical tracks address landslide monitoring and pipeline strain; crack characterization and management; ILI applications, analysis, and verification; hard spots; dent assessment; engineering assessment; hydrogen transportation; integrity management; difficult-to-inspect pipelines; materials verification; and repair technologies. Presentations include work on ILI run comparisons, risk-informed assessment choices under the PHMSA Gas Mega Rule, dent engineering critical assessment, non-intrusive pipeline assessment, material testing, and repair qualification. A panel addresses PHMSA repair criteria for hazardous-liquid and gas-transmission pipelines.

Presented by the Center for Hydrogen Safety, the conference addresses practical hydrogen safety challenges, regulations, codes and standards, and applied safety practices. Themes include process safety; quantitative risk analysis; explosions and hazards; materials integrity; hydrogen production and electrolysis; storage; transport and pipelines; fueling and mobility; incidents and lessons learned; public safety; emerging technology; and digital tools. Program topics include updates to CGA G-5.5 for hydrogen vent systems; compressed-hydrogen leak-rate requirements and testing practices; OSHA PSM and EPA RMP applicability and exemptions; hydrogen safety education; ultrasonic gas-leak detection; full-scale liquid-hydrogen tank failure testing; and detonation transmission in hydrogen-air mixtures. Other sessions address safer control architectures for hydrogen production, safety planning for large-scale projects and hydrogen hubs, abnormal-operation decision-making, loss-of-primary-containment indicators, green-hydrogen deployment at a public utility, risk assessment across H2–NH3–H2 supply chains, HyRAM+ modeling, operational data, vehicle-labeling standards, and hydrogen locomotive development.

WEI’s largest event includes general sessions with industry leaders and keynote speakers, plus breakout programming across Asset Management, Damage Prevention, Electric Distribution, Electric Substation, Electric Transmission, Grid of the Future, Grid Resilience, Low Carbon Fuels, Natural Gas Emergency Response + Restoration, Natural Gas Integrity Management, Natural Gas Operational Excellence, Operational Leadership, Safety + Health, Safety Management Systems, and Workforce Development. The program is open to anyone in the energy industry.