On Wednesday morning (9/25), Transpetro carried out a simulation of a gasoline leak caused by an attempted theft in the Osvat 22 pipeline, in the neighborhood of the Parque Guarani, on the east side of São Paulo (SP). The exercise aims to verify the effectiveness of the company's response actions and to train the community to act safely in emergency situations. The activity, which had the participation of the surrounding residents and several institutions, also warns of the risks associated with this crime, including fire and explosion.
About 200 people took part in the training, which reproduced a scenario of pipeline drilling by three criminals, culminating in a gasoline leak and fire. One of the bandits was injured in the simulation, requiring medical attention, and residents of a 100-meter radius had to be removed from the scene.
The leak was contained by Transpetro in conjunction with the various agencies that took part in the activity. The whole action had a partnership with the Civil Defense, Fire Department, Health Secretariat (Serviço de Atendimento Móvel de Urgência  - Samu), Ibama (Instituto Brasileiro do Meio Ambiente e dos Recursos Naturais Renováveis), Red Cross, São Paulo State Environmental Company (Companhia Ambiental do Estado de São Paulo  - Cetesb), Military Police, Metropolitan Civil Guard and Traffic Engineering Company (Companhia de Engenharia de Trafego - CET).
"Fuel transportation through pipelines is safe and efficient, as long as there are no criminal interventions. The points where the facilities are located must only be accessed by authorized personnel and are properly signposted", explains Transpetro's Operational Safety manager, Adriana Andrade .
"The achievement of this type of simulation training allows us to demonstrate the risks involved with illegal interventions in the pipelines and, therefore, to avoid the occurrence of accidents caused by the action of third parties", says Giovani Roberto de Almeida, Transpetro Contingency manager .
Resident Maria do Carmo de Queiroz Ciccone, 51, was satisfied with the simulation. “I will be alert to strange movements in the pipeline range. The security information that has been passed on to us teaches what should be done”, said Maria, who learned to call 168, a direct contact channel between the company and the population for complaints.

Pipeline thefts in 2019
Transpetro has been intensifying its preventive actions against theft of oil and oil products in its pipelines, the so-called clandestine diversion, after the escalation of the number of occurrences of this illegal act in the last year. In 2018, there was a peak of 261 cases, a number that represents a record increase of more than 250%, when compared to 2016, when there were 72 occurrences of theft in pipelines. São Paulo - which has pipelines operated by Transpetro spread over 78 of its municipalities - tops the list of states affected by clandestine diversions, with 151 cases of theft in 2018.
It is worth mentioning that Transpetro is managing to reverse the upward trend in the number of thefts in pipelines in 2019. There was a 38% reduction in the number of clandestine diversions, when compared to the first half of this year with the same period last year. If the first seven months of 2019 are considered, the company has a frequency of 174 cases in annual frequency.