The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is leading an investigation into two September fires that struck a pipeline company’s office and construction sites in northern Wisconsin. The first, on September 14, hit a company office in Superior. Days later, a fire damaged an equipment trailer and two boring machines at a drilling site in Ashland County. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) is determining origin and cause. A third fire in mid-October destroyed a drill rig on the same project, and graffiti was found at the site. No one has claimed responsibility.
These incidents in the United States occur in a broader context of global threats to pipeline infrastructure. Over the last two months, Liferaft’s threat monitoring covering global events and online chatter related to oil and gas pipelines in the United States and overseas. The data shows a combination of geopolitical tensions, domestic grievances, and open calls for violence that pose significant risks to pipeline assets.
What the Online Conversation Shows Liferaft’s recent publication Managing Political Violence and Instability: A Guide for Corporations distinguishes political rhetoric that supports lawful activism and demonstration from that which calls for unlawful civil disobedience and property destruction. Online chatter about pipelines falls into both categories.
Liferaft data on negative public opinion about pipelines shows grievance concentrated on specific assets, as opposed to general discontent with pipelines as an asset class. Posts describe one pipeline, installed in 1953, as a “ticking time bomb” in service far past its originally anticipated 50-year life. Other posts focus on the August 25 gas leak in Wisconsin, which forced evacuations. Recurring themes include threats to tribal treaty rights and cultural resources, pipelines as climate “carbon bombs,” and distrust of operators and regulators.
This expression is constitutionally protected, and does not inherently pose a threat. However, it provides insight to corporate security teams, which should be aware of the online discussion. Grievances tied to named projects could provide would-be attackers a target set, and a sharp increase in online organizing around a particular location can signal coming demonstrations.
A share of the conversation moves past grievance. Liferaft data shows “numerous posts openly call for destroying or bombing pipelines,” with some citing the film How to Blow Up a Pipeline as inspiration. Others praise sabotage as an effective tactic and urge continued targeting. The FBI warned in 2023 that the film “has potential to inspire threat actors to target oil and gas infrastructure.”
Posts also characterize pipelines as “strategic chokepoints” that are easy to disrupt. The assets are long, remote, and lightly staffed. The Wisconsin fires remain under investigation, and no motive has been established. But repeated incidents at a single project that draws sustained online opposition is the pattern that should raise that project’s baseline risk profile.
The Liferaft platform was also used to track global events impacting pipeline security. In recent years, pipelines and other energy infrastructure have become major targets in the Iran war and the Russia-Ukraine war. In September, drone strikes hit Saudi Arabia’s East–West pipeline and equipment used to operate it, shutting down a key export route around the Strait of Hormuz. In Russia and Ukraine, drone strikes have repeatedly hit refineries, oil depots, and export terminals. On October 18, drones struck an oil terminal and an oil depot in St. Petersburg during an attack in which Russia’s Ministry of Defense said it shot down some 1,015 drones.
Battlefield tactics rarely stay on the battlefield. Terrorist and extremist groups study what works in war and adapt it. Researchers at West Point’s Combating Terrorism Center have argued that violent extremist organizations “are not passive observers in modern warfare” and that the Russia–Ukraine war “is likely to serve as the next major catalyst” for terrorist drone use. In June, FBI Deputy Director Chris Raia warned it is “only a matter of time” before drone attacks seen overseas reach the United States. Drone strikes on pipelines, terminals, and refineries are now proven methods against energy infrastructure. Operators in the United States should assume these tactics are being studied.
Corporate security and intelligence teams at pipeline companies should take five steps to assess the threat they face:
Pipeline companies face risk from local grievance at home and from tactics refined in two wars abroad. In this rapidly shifting threat environment, strong intelligence capabilities are critical for the protection of these vital assets.