Petroleum Africa
Find us on: 
Monday, April 11, 2016
For nine years, the Pipeline Integrity Management Forum has been one of the leading platforms for pipeline professionals from Europe and beyond. The 9th Annual had a particular focus on breakthrough innovative technology and topics, with content created by operators and for operators. It was held on 15–17 March 2016 at Courtyard by Marriott Berlin City Center in Berlin.
The three days consisted of two conference days and a third day dedicated to the InLine Inspection Workshop. The chairman’s role for the first day was taken by Hans Boersma, Manager, Offshore Assets and General Affairs at BBL Company, who officially opened the conference with his welcome speech.
We are grateful to have had these five professionals in the event advisory committee: Dr Axel Scherello, project leader in Open Grid Europe; Samir Akel, network technical consultant in GRTgaz; Sergey Donchenko, Head of Department in Gazprom Transgaz; Wolfram Guenther, Manager, Operation Information Systems in Ontras and Hans Boersma, our chairman.
The first block began with a presentation of the latest report by the European Gas Pipeline Incident Group, EGIG. And out of the seventeen major onshore gas transmission system operators which are members of the extensive pipeline incident database EGIG, four of them joined us in Berlin: Fluxys (Belgium), GRTgaz (France), Gasunie (Netherlands) and Open Grid Europe (Germany).
Afterwards, GRTgaz spoke about inspection reparation, followed by pipeline leak detection methods presented by Yokogawa. Although pipeline networks represent the most economical and safest mode of transportation for oil and gas, leaks in pipelines mean amplified risk to: life, the environment, operation, safety as well as company earnings and associated costs.
Next, Charles Fernandez, project manager in Engie, presented goals and implementation of field validation.
After the lunch break, we continued with the afternoon session on Innovative Technologies for Pipeline Inspection, Surveillance & Repairs, including ultrasonic in-line inspection, as viewed by Thomas Mrugala, key account manager at NDT Global. Jörg Wermeling of Open Grid Europe, speaking on reducing natural gas emissions by the
use of a mobile compressor, was followed by robotic risk management, presented to the audience by Robert Kodadek, R&D programme manager at ULC Robotics, U.S.A. After the afternoon coffee break, we dug into an interesting and trending topic: drones and the opportunity for pipeline surveillance, presented by Frédéric Guillou from GRTgaz. Alan Kennedy Mather, sales and marketing manager from Halfwave (Norway) brought up the topic of acoustic resonance and connected case studies.
The first day of the forum finished with the closing remarks of the chairman and a reception with drinks for all the attendees.
The second day, with Dr John Lawson, senior technology advisor at Chevron, in the chair, started with a session on Asset Management and Third-Party & External Threats. The keynote presentation by Leen Pronk, Gasunie chairman, had a special focus on pipeline integrity and innovation in the context of CSR & environmental protection. Issues like land use, carbon footprint, emissions and the decommissioning of pipelines were discussed. Gas and corrosion, which represent huge predicaments for operators, were the main subjects of a presentation by Betina Jørgensen, project manager at the Danish Gas Technology Centre. According to the previously mentioned EGIG report, over the last 10 years, corrosion has been the cause of 24% of all the pipeline incidents in their database!
After the morning coffee & refreshments, we moved to the topic of automation & process control systems. Patrick Viskens from Fluxys spoke about efficiency of automation, reducing downtime and wireless & GSM information transfer.
Illegal tapping is a distressing problem. Harry Smith from Atmos International, the sponsor of our forum, spoke about it and the challenge of theft protection, as well as the solutions and the situation in the UK.
Afterwards, key elements of subsea integrity management were presented by INTECSEA.
After the lunch break, we moved on to the sessions about offshore pipeline integrity and inspections. Steffen Paeper Dipl. Ing. started with a keynote presentation on the geometric inspection of pipelines. He spoke about pig radar and mapping the pipelines.
Jean-François Plaziat, deputy director, maintenance at Nordstream, presented the company’s integrity management strategy, safe and secure supply of natural gas for Europe, management plan and quick and effective reaction in case of damage.
It was followed by an afternoon session where speakers discussed some of the key outcomes of the day and answered questions from the audience. Key topics included unpiggable pipelines, post-processing of reports and vendor-operator cooperation.
Subsea pipeline integrity from a regulator’s perspective was presented by Morten Andre Langøy and Trond Sundby of Petroleumstilsynet. Loss of integrity means loss of production, so the ageing of pipelines is a big issue. Topics like cost of loss of production, cost of decommissioning and amelioration options were addressed by Dr John Lawson, senior technology advisor in Chevron and our chairman.
Romke Bijker, offshore advisor in BBL Company/Witteveen+Bos/ACRB, devoted the presentation to the seabed mobility and offshore pipelines. He vividly analyzed potential to update pipeline operating permit provisions in areas with seabed mobility.
Managing director in Pipesurvey International, Peter van Beugen, shared his knowledge about inspection of non-piggable pipelines, low pressure pipelines as well as multidiameter and bidirectional pipelines.
The day ended with the closing remarks of the chairman.
The last day of the forum was dedicated solely to the In-line inspection workshop led by Dr Konrad Reber, head of research and development for the Innospection Group. The department is responsible for designing new inspection equipment for the Oil and Gas industry. This last session took an in-depth look at the key principals and challenges of the ILI.
Fleming. thanks all the participants. We look forward to the 10th celebratory annual. Follow our website and social networks for news about it and a full post-show report we are preparing.
" alt="First LNG Realized at the Greater Tortue Ahmeyim Project">
" alt="United Energy Acquires Western Desert Producer APEX">
" alt="Baker Hughes Announces Major Gas Technology Orders for Venture Global LNG">
" alt="ReconAfrica: Naingopo Results Demonstrate a Working Petroleum System">
" alt="Tullow Highlights 2025 Operational Plans in Ghana">
" alt="TotalEnergies to Supply 1.5 TWh to STMicroelectronics in France Over 15 years">
" alt="Rockhopper Reaches Final Settlement with United on Egypt’s Abu Sennan Concession">
" alt="Oil & Gas Crucial for African Growth: AEC Calls for Industry Support to Defend African Market">
