The US Department of Transportation announced on Monday, January 5th, that it will levy a record fine in connection to the 2023 oil leak incident in the Gulf of America (formerly known as the Gulf of Mexico).
According to the official announcement on the US Department of Transportation’s website, Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy and Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) Director Paul Roberti disclosed plans to impose a $9,622,054 civil penalty on Panther Operating Company.
This is the largest fine ever proposed by the agency in its pipeline safety enforcement actions. The previous largest proposed fine was $3,866,734 against Denbury Gulf Coast Pipeline in 2022.
PHMSA’s investigation found that Panther Operating Company may have violated multiple hazardous liquid pipeline safety regulations, including integrity management and operational maintenance requirements involving leak detection, emergency response, and high-consequence area protection, among other aspects.
On December 31 of last year, PHMSA issued a notice to the company regarding the rupture incident in November 2023 of its Main Pass Oil Gathering (MPOG) underwater pipeline system, imposing a $9.62 million fine.
The agency stated that approximately 1.1 million gallons of crude oil leaked into the Gulf of America for over 9 hours due to a connector failure on the pipeline, with the leak visible approximately 20 miles from the Mississippi River Delta.
The announcement revealed that a Panther company pipeline controller observed the leak on the evening of November 15, 2023, based on pressure gauge readings, and noted zero flow in the pipeline five hours later. However, the controller did not order the pipeline shutdown until the end of their shift the next morning at 6:00 AM. The replacement controller requested the pipeline shutdown around 6:30 AM, more than 13 hours after the initial pressure anomaly was discovered.
The announcement also mentioned that Panther company failed to consider seabed landslides and tropical storms’ impact on the Gulf of America’s seabed during the maintenance of the oil pipeline.
Since November 21, 2023, no new or ongoing oil leaks have been reported.
The US Coast Guard, the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE), the Louisiana Oil Spill Coordinator’s Office, and the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries of the state of Louisiana have continued response and cleanup operations following the oil spill incident until April 2024.
Environmental organization Healthy Gulf assessed this as one of the top ten oil spill events affecting US waters in the past 40 years.
Secretary Duffy stated in the announcement, “Safety is the driving force behind all of our work. We are sending a clear message that when companies fail to comply with regulations, we will take decisive action without hesitation. We will continue to enforce the law to ensure the safety and efficiency of our energy infrastructure.”
Director Paul Roberti of PHMSA pointed out, “PHMSA’s commitment to safety concerns and holding operators accountable when they fail to comply with federal safety regulations will never waver. Pipeline operators must remain vigilant in their operations to prevent such incidents, or they will face serious consequences.”
The enforcement action also includes a proposed compliance order requiring Panther company to take measures to ensure compliance with federal pipeline safety regulations. These measures include conducting assessments and developing corresponding plans to protect the MPOG pipeline system from unexpected external loads caused by geological disasters. Panther has 30 days to respond.
The full name of the MPOG pipeline system is the Main Pass Oil Gathering pipeline system, which is a network of offshore crude oil collection and transportation pipelines located in the Gulf of America. The system is owned by Houston-based Third Coast Infrastructure LLC, with its subsidiary, Panther Operating Company, responsible for its operation.
The primary function of the MPOG pipeline system is to collect crude oil from offshore oil fields in the eastern part of the Gulf of America (such as multiple platforms in the Main Pass area) and transport it to onshore facilities through subsea pipelines. The system spans approximately 67 miles (about 108 kilometers) with a daily capacity of transporting up to 80,000 barrels of crude oil.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) reported in June 2025 that Houston pipeline operator Panther failed to take timely action and assess the impact of a series of severe hurricanes on the pipeline during the incident.
The report indicated that extensive industry information suggests that land movements associated with hurricane activities pose a threat to the Gulf of America pipeline. The report used the term “Gulf of America” in reference to this water area during the Trump administration.
Regarding the Department of Transportation’s penalty, Executive Director Bill Caram of the Pipeline Safety Trust stated that the leak stemmed from systematic failures in the company’s management, and the record fine is appropriate and welcomed. However, he pointed out that even record fines often do not financially penalize pipeline operators significantly, as the fine accounts for less than 3% of Third Coast Midstream company’s projected annual earnings. He believes that true deterrence should make non-compliance more costly than compliance.