Abstract: Global long-distance oil & gas pipelines are developing to the target of larger diameter, higher steel grade and higher pressure, so significant economic losses, casualties and environmental pollution will be resulted in once a pipeline failure happens. In this paper, the failure data of long-distance oil & gas pipelines in the United States, Europe and China were collected, collated and counted. Then, the failure rates of the United States and Europe whose pipeline management is relatively mature were calculated by means of internationally common exposure value and five-year moving average failure rate calculation methods, and compared with the failure rate of China's petroleum pipelines to improve China's pipeline management level. The reasons for the failures of long-distance pipelines at home and abroad were compared and analyzed. Finally, the key safety technologies and management measures for Chinese oil and gas pipelines were searched to optimize its pipeline management system. It is of great significance to risk reducing measure adjustment and safety management level improvement of Chinese pipeline enterprises and even global pipeline industry.