Thank you very much for having me here today. It's a pleasure to appear before you.
For those of you who are not familiar with the Canadian Energy Pipeline Association, we represent all of the major transmission pipeline companies in Canada. Together every day they ship more than 97% of all the oil and natural gas used across the country as well as for export, and together they operate over 110,000 kilometres of pipeline.
As we transition to support new sources of energy and smarter approaches to the conservation of energy such as those mentioned by our last presenter, pipelines will remain an integral part of the creation of reliable energy systems for Canadians, both enabling quality of life that we enjoy and tying our country together. Pipelines are fundamental to safe, reliable, and affordable energy today, and by most reasonable expectations will be required for many decades to come.
We make important contributions to the economy and to quality of life for Canadians. There are over $20 billion worth of investments currently planned, but that's just the tip of the iceberg, because in fact since we provide transport for the majority of energy produced and used, we actually are the enablers for vast numbers of further investments worth hundreds of billions of dollars.
On top of that, every day fully one-quarter of Canada's mercantile exports move through Canadian pipelines. One in four export dollars is thanks to pipelines. So we take this very seriously as a duty to Canadians. We recognize this type of infrastructure has a very high profile. Our performance is fundamental. We accept and welcome the scrutiny and are absolutely committed to more transparency and continuous improvement. We take great pride in our safety record, and in fact the Transportation Safety Board of Canada statistics indicate unequivocally that the frequency of accidents in pipelines is far lower than for any other mode of transportation. In fact, our industry is over 99.99% reliable, but we will not rest until we get to zero incidents.
I open with these comments today because the link to your study is our industry's ongoing commitment to continuously improve that service to Canadians, and safety is the first priority. So let's talk about innovation, because for us it covers technology; it covers knowledge sharing; and it covers system. I want to provide you with a view from a technology perspective first.
When you think about the life cycle of a pipeline, there are many services, contractors, and types of expertise brought to bear from outside pipeline companies themselves. In pulling them together, the first step in safety is to have advanced design, quality of construction, quality materials, and everything from welding to field testing. Getting it right at the beginning is very important. Across Canada, the technology innovation around these many services and sector components is very impressive.
Next comes prevention of any incidents during operations. The big technology news there is in-line inspection. Much in the way MRIs or CAT scans have had a revolutionary impact on health, we use in-line inspection technologies to detect any problems before they develop into major safety issues. We work with partners in advanced technology sectors to achieve that, and that is one of the largest commitments and largest investment areas.
Next, if there is a leak, we need to detect it quickly. Again, technology plays a big role there in the response, in terms of the types of science and techniques to unequivocally respond quickly and to fully and completely remediate any environmental issues that might have occurred as a result of that spill. I will say for the record that with today's technology, on average we're seeing cleanup rates in excess of 95% recovery, with environmental sign-offs by regulators within the course of no more than a couple of years, generally speaking. We want that to be even better, but that is a part of technology.
Exchanging knowledge and operating practices is something that Canadians require us to do. There are collective and collaborative efforts. Although our industry is a competitive one, I can tell you from the seat I'm in, in assisting with that collaboration, that there is firm recognition by the CEOs and others across this industry that anybody's incident is everybody's incident. This is no longer a space for competition.
Collaboration in safety is fundamental, and our association provides a very important vehicle in that.
We also work through groups like the Pipeline Research Council International, the Canadian Standards Association, and a variety of other industry groups with regard to various best practices.
One example that I want to highlight, where technology and innovation have had a very positive impact and where Canada has been in the lead, is with respect to something called “stress corrosion cracking”. This was an unknown phenomenon until the early nineties and mid-nineties. It was through Canadian efforts that the metallurgical challenge was well understood, the technology was advanced, and the best practices to manage it directly were improved.
The second example is with regard to knowledge sharing. We host in Canada every second year the International Pipeline Conference, and I can tell you, having travelled in Asia and Australia, that this is seen as the go-to conference for pipeline safety and innovation. Last year's conference, held in Calgary, had representatives from over 45 countries, with over 350 technical papers provided in the sharing of knowledge.
Finally, just briefly, systems are important. As you would have seen in innovation across many other sectors, a systematic approach to understanding where to move next and what to develop and push forward is fundamental. These management systems have been a backbone for chemicals, in Responsible Care, and for forests in forestry practices. The pipeline sector is committed to our own program, called CEPA Integrity First. This brings together leadership across the industry. The members of our board of directors, all executives from across the pipeline industry in Canada, are absolutely committed to this.
One other system I would point to is damage prevention. We will do everything in our power to advance technologies and improve safety records. At the end of the day, one of the growing concerns we have is that an excavator might inadvertently hit a pipe. The stats tell us that our near misses are increasing.
Fortunately, we've gone for decades without a single death in the public. Despite this massive industry under the ground in Canada—110,000 kilometres—we've had not a single public death. But we want to keep it that way. In damage prevention, regulation and innovation across the country are fundamental.
I'll close simply by restating that we take our social contract to Canadians extremely seriously. We are here to serve Canadian interests. If we weren't doing this with private dollars, we would probably be doing it with public dollars. This kind of infrastructure, handling over a quarter of our mercantile exports, is fundamental. Reliability and safety are embedded in technology and innovation as we move forward.
I look forward to your questions. Thank you.