Integrity
Latest Threats To Pipeline, Production And Process Management Systems
<strong>The Secret War: Stuxnet, Duqu And Flame</strong> The highly complex computer worm called Stuxnet, targeted at sophisticated industrial control systems, was first identified in July 2010. The arrival of Stuxnet changed everything . . . it was a harbinger of the shape of things to come.
Public Awareness Effectiveness Measurement And Emergency Responder Communications
For many years, pipeline operators have been required to communicate safety information to emergency officials; however, actually making a difference with this type of communication is dependent upon the driver behind the effort. Is the operator merely checking the box to meet a compliance requirement or is the operator effectively communicating the right information to the right people in a timely manner?
Cyber Security And SCADA In Critical Infrastructure
Ensuring the stability and protection of critical infrastructure is essential to the nation's public health and safety, security, economic strength and way of life. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recently revealed a rash of cyber attacks on natural gas pipeline companies.
INGAA, APCA, OSHA Ramp Up Pipeline Construction Safety Measures
The INGAA Foundation Inc. has released Construction Safety Consensus Guidelines designed to cover common natural gas construction operations such as basic personal protection equipment (PPE), pressure testing, overhead utilities safety, and trenching and excavation.
Solving The Cybersecurity Puzzle
“Energy firms have spent vast sums on the security of their information systems, but they must reorient from a reactive, tactical posture regarding intrusions and attacks to a more strategic, holistic view that expands beyond the categorization of the issue as only an IT problem."
Columbia Gas Pipeline Explodes In West Virginia
A 20-inch natural gas pipeline exploded near Charleston, WV Dec. 11, setting nearby buildings on fire and injuring several people, authorities said. The blast, on Nisource Gas Transmission and Storage’s Columbia Gas Transmission pipeline, occurred 1 p.m. near Sissonville, about 10 miles north of Charleston.
Damaged Ballast Tank Forces Evacuation Of Workers In Norwegian Sea
On Nov. 7, damage to a ballast tank on Floatel Superior working in the Norwegian Sea was discovered. Water seepage caused a 3-4 degree tilt that was corrected and rig stability was re-established.
Seasoned Veteran Leads Fight Vs. Corrosion
As the battle rages to prevent the menace of corrosion, the pipeline industry and others will always be able to count on having NACE International at their side.
Recognizing Benefits Of Pipeline Alarm Management
Whenever new regulations are introduced into any industry, they can be challenging as companies work to understand them, put together compliance plans, find technical solutions and identify the right processes and resources to help implement solutions.
Automated Pigging Solutions For Unconventional Plays
According to market studies, all indications are that the importance of the shale gas market is not going to diminish in the foreseeable future. On the contrary, significant growth is projected in many quarters. For example, a 2011 report issued by ICF International on behalf of the INGAA Foundation predicted that total United States and Canada shale gas production will jump from 2010 levels of about 13 Bcf/d to 52 bcf/d by the year 2035.
Composite Repair Users Group Talks Permitting At 2nd Annual Conference
The Composite Repair Users Group met for its 2nd Annual Conference and Exhibition on Sept. 7 in Houston. The one-day conference, which was free to attend, focused on the permitting status of composite repair techniques for pipelines, updating members on new advances, demonstrating methods and results from testing and discussing the state of the industry.
Societal Risk Criteria And Pipelines
While the discussion of societal risk criteria for the process industry began in the 1970s - led primarily by the Dutch and British governments - the literature on the societal risk of hazardous goods transportation, particularly by pipeline, has been much more limited. For fixed facilities, F-N curves and individual risk calculations are broadly used to assess the risk to the general public.
Measurement Of Roof Topping Effects As An Integral Part Of Routine In-Line Inspection
Caused by improper crimping of the steel sheet in the production process, roof topping is a geometric anomaly that occurs along the longitudinal seam weld of the pipe. These incorrectly crimped sheets then result in a deviation from the perfectly circular geometry of the pipeline. The implications of roof topping for pipeline integrity are severe. They include risk of failure during hydro-testing or fatigue failure during pipeline operation.
Assessing The Effectiveness Of Pipeline Cleaning Programs
There are over 2 million km of oil and gas production pipelines worldwide and ensuring the effective and efficient flow of products through these pipelines makes a huge difference in revenues generated.
Breakthrough In Inhibitor Science Fights Internal Corrosion
For pipeline owners and operators, efforts to mitigate or control internal corrosion generally fall into one or more of a handful of strategies. Moisture content control seeks to limit the amount of moisture (as measured in grains of water per million cubic feet of product, or by dew point) to eliminate the electrolyte for corrosion cells to develop.
NACE Corrosion And Punishment Forum
NACE International—The Corrosion Society --holds its annual conference each spring, attracting 6,000 attendees and 350 exhibiting companies from around the worldwho represent every industry and technology for corrosion control. The five-day conference features an extensive technical program, meetings, lectures, forums, courses, networking activities, special events, and the largest corrosion exposition in the world.
PHMSA Considering Additional Pipeline Safety Changes
With Congress having passed a pipeline safety bill last December, you'd think the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) has plenty to do implementing that law during 2012.
New Lightweight Pig Passage Search And Track Device
Technology moves on but instruments to search, monitor, or record the passage of a pipeline pig have not kept up and are often very short on features and high on price. Some devices simply provide a means to view the strength of a 22-Hz signal and, perhaps, log a low-grade pig passage time.
Gas Training Takes Giant Leap Forward
What does it take to make a dream come true? First and most importantly, you start with a leadership that has a vision. This is how Atmos Energy’s Charles K. Vaughan Center became a reality. For those unfamiliar with the natural gas industry’s leading technical training facility, let us make the introduction.
National Energy Board Reports Injury Rates Has Fallen Again
The injury rate for pipeline workers in Canada dropped to near historically low levels, said a report by the National Energy Board. The NEB’s annual report found that the injury rate fell nearly 50% from one injury for every 100 workers in 2008 to 0.53 injuries for every 100 federally regulated pipeline workers in 2009. This marked the second year in a row that the injury rate has been cut in half.
Virtual Reality 3D Training For Pipeline Employees
Companies in the midstream energy industry are under pressure from all directions. While operating efficiently, it is mandatory that they comply with increasingly stringent health, safety and environmental regulations.
PRCI Announces 2012 Program For Pipeline Research
Pipeline Research Council International, Inc. (PRCI), said its 2012 Research Program will pay particular attention to corrosion-related issues as well as nearly aspect of pipeline and facilities operations. These will include:
How Alliance Pipeline Is Taking Advantage Of Opportunities While Dealing With Changing Market Dynamics
Shortly after Alliance Pipeline celebrated its 10th anniversary, company President and CEO, Murray Birch, and Bob Blattler, Manager, Supply Development, took time to respond to <em>P&GJ</em>’s questions regarding the company’s recent milestone, safety strategy, training methods, near-term challenges and a move toward becoming a multi-service pipeline.
Oil Pipeline Bypassing Turkish Straits Would Not Significantly Reduce Safety Shipping Risks
An oil pipeline bypassing Turkey’s Bosphorus Strait would have little impact on shipping safety on the waterway because crude oil shipments constitute a small and declining percentage of total traffic, according to a new IHS Cambridge Energy Research Associates (IHS CERA) report.
Growing Gas Demand, Regulatory Changes Drive LDC Spending
The nation’s natural gas distribution industry delivers gas to the homes or places of business of more than 70 million customers every day. These customers consumed approximately 24.1 Tcf of gas in 2010. Some 2.4 million miles of pipeline of varying sizes and pressures are used to transport natural gas annually from the wellhead to customers throughout the U.S.
Review Of CP Criteria In Five Standards
Cathodic potential (CP) criteria are used as a recommended minimum requirement for controlling external corrosion of buried or submerged steel piping systems. Different and sometimes conflicting CP criteria are given in different global CP standards. This can lead to confusion regarding what criterion is best used for a given condition.
Report: E&P Sites Hazardous To Members Of Public, Especially Children
The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) has released a study of explosions at oil and gas production sites across the U.S., identifying 26 incidents since 1983 that killed 44 members of the public and injured 25 others under age 25, and is calling for new public protection measures at the sites.
Take A BIG First Gas Pressure Cut To Protect Delivery System
Despite the higher gas pipeline pressures (up to 1,000 psi) and varying inlet pressures on peak days in recent years, Wisconsin Public Service Corporation believes the most effective pressure-reduction practice is to take a first cut from the supply pipeline in one big step while sizing for minimum contract pressure.
Executives Confident Of Information Security Practices
PwC US has released a new report entitled, “Eye of the Storm,” which provides findings on information security for the oil and gas industry, based on survey responses from 143 senior industry executives. PwC found that despite data exploitation being up across the board, executives remain confident in their security practices as they have a set strategy in place.
Intelligent Control Room Management For Oil And Gas Pipeline Safety
Globally, mankind has more than 1,500,000 km of oil and gas pipelines – with more than 600,000 km in North America alone. These numbers are even higher when one adds pipelines transporting other hazardous gases and liquids. Though efficient and critical, these pipelines carry high costs for individual safety incidents. Around the world, pipeline safety and security are immediate concerns, both for industry and government.

- Kinder Morgan Proposes 290-Mile Gas Pipeline Expansion Spanning Three States
- Enbridge Plans 86-Mile Pipeline Expansion, Bringing 850 Workers to Northern B.C.
- Intensity, Rainbow Energy to Build 344-Mile Gas Pipeline Across North Dakota
- Tallgrass to Build New Permian-to-Rockies Pipeline, Targets 2028 Startup with 2.4 Bcf Capacity
- U.S. Moves to Block Enterprise Products’ Exports to China Over Security Risk
- U.S. Pipeline Expansion to Add 99 Bcf/d, Mostly for LNG Export, Report Finds
- A Systematic Approach To Ensuring Pipeline Integrity
- 275-Mile Texas-to-Oklahoma Gas Pipeline Enters Open Season
- TC Energy’s North Baja Pipeline Expansion Brings Mexico Closer to LNG Exports
- Consumers Energy Begins 135-Mile Michigan Gas Pipeline Upgrade, Taps 600 Workers