Three leaks in two weeks on the same crude oil line. The holes were at the bottom of the pipe, and the coating was intact.
What happened
In August 2026 the US Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) issued a Corrective Action Order to Enterprise Crude Pipeline, LLC, after three releases on segment C92.1 of its Midland Crude system in Ector County, Texas, near West Odessa. The system carries crude oil from Hobbs, New Mexico, to Midland, Texas.
The affected line is 8-inch, 0.188-inch wall, API 5L X42 pipe, built in 1960 with low-frequency electric resistance welded (LF-ERW) seams and a coal tar coating.
What the order records
- 13 August 2026: a release found on aerial patrol, first reported as 30 barrels and later as 60.
- 25 August 2026: at least 600 barrels from a hole at the six o'clock position. The coating appeared intact and there was no indication of external or mechanical damage. Pressure at the time was 227 psig against a maximum operating pressure of 1,318 psig.
- 27 August 2026: a further bottom-side hole near the first failure site.
All three were at two locations within seven miles of each other. The order also records that between January 2018 and March 2026 the Midland Crude system had 45 reportable releases, 17 of them from internal corrosion, and notes that the operator's leak detection system apparently did not detect the three failures.
What PHMSA requires
The segment is shut in until PHMSA approves a restart plan, and pressure on the wider 136.6-mile affected segment is cut by 20%. The operator must commission independent mechanical and metallurgical testing within 45 days and a root cause failure analysis, by a different independent party, within 90 days, followed by a remedial work plan.
What it means for pipeline owners
PHMSA has not yet stated the cause, and nothing here anticipates its findings. In our view, a hole at the bottom of a line under sound coating points inward, to where water drops out of the product and sits. Three such leaks in two weeks, on a system where internal corrosion already accounts for more than a third of releases, is a pattern rather than bad luck.
The removed pipe is the evidence that decides which mechanism is at work, and so whether the answer is chemical treatment, cleaning and flow changes, or replacement.
What an engineer should check
- When a leak clamp is fitted, is the defect location recorded by clock position and distance, and is pipe cut out for examination when it can be?
- Do your release records separate internal from external corrosion, and is the internal share rising?
- Are low points and dead legs, where water collects, mapped and inspected?
Source. PHMSA Corrective Action Order CPF No. 4-2026-010-CAO, Enterprise Crude Pipeline, LLC, Midland Crude system, transmittal dated 28 August 2026. Read the order_text.pdf). This article summarises the source in our own words; see the original for full details. It is general technical information, not advice on a specific asset.
Related reading
- How a corrosion failure investigation works
- Pitting and crevice corrosion: reading localised attack
- API RP 1176 second edition: why the cut-out matters
- MTIS corrosion and integrity services
- Follow MTIS on LinkedIn for new failure reviews and industry briefings.
A cut-out with a hole in it?
Keep it, mark the clock position and flow direction, and send us photographs. Request a project quote.