Protecting the well heads and nearby pipeline infrastructure makes sense.
A-10s 24/7 on the roads connecting major cities would do the job.
If you want to stop a pipeline, you only have to cut it in a couple of places. At 200+/-bbls/load, 300 to 350 truckloads are sufficient to get 70000 BOPD out to market, and at $20/bbl, that is $500,000,000/year.
Shoot the trucks, kill the drivers, too.