Pipeline operators have long relied on helicopter patrols as a primary method for right-of-way surveillance. Regular aerial inspections provide direct visual access to pipeline corridors, enabling teams to detect encroachments, ground movement, and third-party activity before they escalate.
However, not all pipeline networks can be monitored this way.
For operators whose infrastructure crosses restricted airspace, conventional aerial patrol is either limited or unavailable in certain sections. This creates persistent monitoring gaps: sections of corridor that cannot be consistently observed from the air, regardless of scheduling or resource allocation. Where those gaps exist, the ability to maintain safety assurance, support damage prevention, and demonstrate regulatory compliance becomes significantly more difficult.
To explore how operators manage these challenges in practice, we are hosting a live virtual session with British Pipeline Agency (BPA), a joint venture between BP Oil UK and Shell UK.
Operating Under Constraint: Safety and Oversight in Restricted Airspace
BPA manages a 1,000km pipeline network in the UK that includes sections crossing restricted airspace. In those areas, helicopter patrols — a standard component of pipeline surveillance — cannot be relied upon consistently.
The implications extend beyond inconvenience. Monitoring blind spots affect the integrity of damage prevention programmes, create uncertainty in safety assurance processes, and introduce compliance risk in segments that regulators expect to be under active oversight.
Managing these constraints requires more than a temporary workaround. It demands a considered operational approach: understanding exactly where gaps exist, assessing the risks they introduce, and building processes that maintain meaningful oversight in the absence of regular aerial coverage.
This session will explore how BPA has approached these challenges, what they have learned, and what other operators facing similar constraints can apply in their own programmes.
What the Webinar Will Cover
This session will provide a practical perspective on maintaining pipeline safety and operational assurance where conventional aerial monitoring is not consistently available.
Key topics include:
- The operational reality of monitoring pipelines in and around restricted airspace
- How airspace constraints reduce the effectiveness of damage prevention programmes
- The safety, integrity, and compliance risks created by persistent monitoring blind spots
- Practical approaches to maintaining meaningful oversight when aerial access is limited or intermittent
- How spatial data and GIS tools support visibility in access-constrained environments
The discussion will draw on BPA’s direct operational experience managing a live pipeline network under these conditions.
Meet the Speakers
Chelsea Dove
GIS Coordinator, British Pipeline Agency
Chelsea Dove is GIS Coordinator at BPA, specialising in spatial data, mapping, and land coordination. She brings experience across pipeline operations, spatial intelligence, and risk mapping, with work spanning both the UK and Australia. With an academic background in geography and natural hazards from Coventry University, Chelsea combines technical GIS expertise with practical insight to support effective land and infrastructure management.
Manesh Patel
Head of Joint Venture and Land Management, British Pipeline Agency
Manesh Patel is a legal and commercial specialist with extensive experience across the nuclear, renewable, oil, and gas sectors. He has led the management of complex, high-value EPC contracts and negotiated bespoke agreements under JCT, FIDIC, NEC3, and NEC4 frameworks. His expertise spans contract negotiation, claims management, contract administration, and governance, with a strong track record of supporting commercial performance and regulatory compliance.
Who Should Attend
This session is designed for professionals involved in:
- Pipeline integrity and risk management
- Right-of-way monitoring and damage prevention
- Operations and field response
- Regulatory compliance and safety programmes
- Land management and corridor access
Anyone responsible for maintaining pipeline oversight in environments where conventional monitoring methods face limitations will benefit from this discussion.
Join the Webinar
As airspace restrictions and access constraints become an increasingly common feature of pipeline operations, the ability to maintain safety assurance across the full network is more important than ever.
This session will provide a practical, experience-based perspective on how to manage surveillance gaps, maintain operational confidence, and meet compliance obligations where aerial monitoring cannot always reach.
Register now to secure your place and learn how the British Pipeline Agency approaches pipeline safety in no-fly zones.
