In recent years, the global pipeline community has made a lot of progress in detecting and locating theft activities. Technologies have been developed and applied to several pipelines worldwide. While these technologies are contributing significantly to the early detection and location of illegal tapping points, the key challenges vary from one country to another. The main consequence reduction factors span social, economic, political and legal situation in each region.

Sophisticated evolutions in illegal tapping operations also play a major role in the need to have an advanced theft detection system. This paper will review the progress made in theft detection and the strategies different pipeline operators use. It also discusses the key challenges in specific parts of the world in addressing pipeline
theft activities.