Abstract: With the increase of pipeline mileage and the continuous urbanization, the high consequence areas of pipelines continue to increase, leading to an increase of risks of pipeline safety. This article summarizes the control measures for high consequence areas of natural gas pipelines from two aspects: reducing the possibility of pipeline failure and mitigating the consequences of pipeline failure. Based on a practical example, a quantitative comparative analysis is conducted on the control effects of four types of safety protection measures, including internal inspection and defect repair, adding RTU block valves, reducing pipeline operating pressure, and reducing the population around pipelines. The results indicate that among the four types of measures mentioned above, internal inspection and defect repair have the best effect on high consequence areas of pipelines, which can significantly reduce personal and social risks of high consequence areas of pipelines, followed by increasing RTU block valves which have better effect, while reducing pipeline operating pressure and decreasing the population around the pipelines have less significant effect. The research results can provide technical support for the safe operation of pipelines in high consequence areas, and the limitations of the research can provide valuable references for future research in this field.