12
World Pipelines
/
JUNE 2015
Exova Houston: Alaska gas pipeline contract
Exova, the global testing, calibration and advisory services
provider, has been contracted by the Alaska Gasline
Development Corporation (AGDC) to provide a material and
weld qualification programme for AGDC’s Alaska Stand Alone
Pipeline (ASAP) project.
AGDC is currently engaged in front-end engineering and
design for the US$10 billion North Slope natural gas project and
in its first contract with the company, Exova’s Houston laboratory
is qualifying selected pipe mills and welding contractors specified
by AGDC to work on the 727 mile, 36 in. main pipeline.
Testing will include destructive testing on pipeline specimens,
including fracture mechanics testing on base material and welds
to ensure materials will withstand the harsh northern conditions.
Exova Houston is one of the few laboratories in the world to
provide direct current potential drop (DCPD) in single edge notch
tension (SENT) testing, which monitors the ductile crack
extension during fracture mechanics tests, allowing detailed
strain analyses of the pipeline to be performed.
Bobby Archibald, Exova’s Vice President of Oil & Gas and
Industrials sector in the Americas, commented: “The ASAP
project could bridge the potential gas shortage in Alaska in the
next five to 10 years, and is a major development in the oil and
gas industry. Exova’s expertise in this field, particularly in SENT
testing using DCPD, means we are well-placed to offer the most
technically demanding services on this vital project.”
Enbridge, TransCanada and Kinder Morgan
sign JIP
Enbridge Pipelines Inc., TransCanada Corp. and Kinder Morgan
Canada have signed a JIP agreement to conduct research into aerial-
based leak detection technologies, in the interest of enhancing
across-the-board pipeline safety.
The companies said that the partnership demonstrates the
partners’ commitment to investing in the leading-edge tools and
technologies that can bolster safety and reliability, while at the same
time addressing public demands for responsible pipeline
development. The goal of the project is to identify technologies
capable of viably detecting small leaks from liquid petroleum
pipeline systems to improve pipeline safety.
The project is expected to involve laboratory research and field
trials to evaluate the feasibility of commercially available aerial-based
leak detection technologies, for use with crude oil and hydrocarbon
liquids pipelines. The partnership includes a funding commitment
from all three companies.
Data analysis will be conducted by Alberta Innovates –
Technology Futures, and testing will be carried out by project
research partner C-FER Technologies (1999) Inc. of Edmonton.
Kinder Morgan, Enbridge, and TransCanada have each committed
CAN$200 000 to this partnership agreement. All three companies
involved in this partnership agreement will share equally in the new
knowledge and advancements that can be applied directly to
improve safety and efficiency in their respective operations.
Flexlife is awarded Apache North Sea contract
Flexlife has won a contract with oil and gas exploration and
production company Apache North Sea Limited.
The subsea project management and engineering support
contract includes work on the Aviat gas development in the Central
North Sea, the Ness/Nevis tie in and general subsea operations
support and will span for three years.
The contract was awarded to Flexlife following a successful six
year history of project delivery with Apache North Sea Limited on
some particularly technically challenging projects including the
Bacchus subsea development and a major subsea isolation valve
project on Forties.
Newly appointed Chief Executive Officer Garry Millard said:
“Flexlife has accrued an enviable breadth of subsea integrity
management and subsea project management knowledge through
its work with operating companies across the industry, and our
previous experience with Apache has been a huge part of that.
Patrick Duggan, Subsea Projects and Operations Manager at
Apache North Sea Limited, said: “Although Apache now possess a
highly effective in-house project delivery capability, this ad hoc
contract allows us the flexibility to access specialist resources as
requirements fluctuate.”
Ciaran O’Donnell, former Flexlife Chief Executive Officer, said:
“Our personnel, process and procedures are fully integrated with our
customers to ensure the highest quality of service is delivered whilst
maintaining the highest safety standards at all times”.
C
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TO KEEP UP-TO-DATE ON CONTRACTS VISIT
Element launches subsea pipeline reeling JIP
Element Materials Technology has announced the launch of a JIP
within the oil and gas sector to enable a breakthrough in the
testing of subsea pipeline installation. The Advanced Simulation of
Pipeline Reeling (ASPIRE) project will pioneer the accurate
representation of the pipeline reeling process, which is anticipated
to increase the commercial viability of testing and bring major
advances in methods for pre-qualification testing of pipeline
welding in deeper and more corrosive deepwater environments.
Rod Martin, Element’s Executive Vice President, oil and gas,
commented: “ASPIRE will bring about unprecedented advances in
subsea pipeline installation testing [...] Our increased understanding
of pipeline reeling will undoubtedly improve the integrity of test
data we can provide for our clients and improve knowledge within
the oil and gas sector as a whole.”
Experts at the company’s Element Aberdeen testing laboratory
will collaborate with sister laboratories across its global network
and key oil and gas industry partners to develop a new reeling
facility in Aberdeen, UK. It will provide unrivalled full-scale cycling
strain testing capabilities based on the technical requirements and
research findings of participants, in addition to serving as the
blueprint for potential future reeling facilities at laboratories such as
Element Houston, Texas. Project participants will gain exclusive
commercial access to the facility, as well as shared knowledge and
testing methodologies developed throughout the initiative. The
two-year ASPIRE project is expected to launch on 1 June 2015.
