The US Department of Transportation has awarded a 3-year, $9.5 million contract to Cycla Corp., Alexandria, Va., to support a DOT pipeline integrity management initiative. Cycla analyses and information systems will be used both to support new rules affecting 87% of federally regulated hazardous liquid pipelines and to develop similar rules for other pipelines under federal or state oversight.
Statoil pipeline experts in have secured approval for ultrasonic inspection of pipe welds from Norwegian and international authorities. Automated ultrasound testing was used on four pipelines on the Norwegian continental shelf last summer.
Tidelands Oil & Gas Corp., Corpus Christi, Tex., has formed a subsidiary, Reef International Transmission & Storage LLC, to obtain state, federal, and international permits for a pipeline crossing between Texas and Mexico. The new company is intended to obtain permits for both a large-diameter natural gas pipeline crossing and permits for propane and butane pipeline crossings and storage facilities.