Mr. Pierson retired as President of Marathon Pipe Line LLC in 2017. He was also vice president of operations of MPLX GP LLC. He served as an industry representative on the Hazardous Liquid Pipeline Technical Advisory Committee, which advises the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration on regulatory matters. Mr. Pierson also served as Chairman of the American Petroleum Industry’s Pipeline Subcommittee, Member of the Pipeline Safety Excellence Steering Committee and Member of the Safety Policy team. He also was a leading industry advocate for the development of API 1173 – Pipeline Safety Management Systems. Mr. Pierson served on the board of the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port (LOOP) and as an owner representative for Marathon Petroleum’s interest in Capline, both entities being significant parts of the nation’s crude oil infrastructure.
Mr. Pierson joined Marathon Pipe Line Company in 1978 as a pipeline engineer. He also served as an internal control auditor for Marathon Oil Company before returning to a series of pipeline engineering and operations positions in Wyoming, Alaska, West Texas and Houston. In 1989 he helped develop a gas pipeline project in Syria. In 1991, Mr. Pierson was named manager of Engineering and Construction Services with responsibilities in the retail marketing sector. He then held operations manager positions for Marathon Pipe Line until 1997, when he joined a project to develop offshore oil and gas resources on Sakhalin Island, Russia. In 2000 Mr. Pierson returned to operations manager positions for Marathon Ashland Pipe Line*, with responsibilities over Gulf Coast operations. He was named vice president of operations for Marathon Pipe Line LLC in 2005, and as its president in 2011. He assumed the role of vice president, operations of MPLX GP LLC in 2012. Marathon Pipe Line at the time of his retirement operated about 6,000 miles of pipelines in 15 states with nearly 800 employees, moving about 3,000,000 barrels of hazardous liquids on a daily basis.
Mr. Pierson graduated from Ohio Northern University with a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering in 1978. He attended Stanford University’s Leading Change and Organizational Renewal Program.