Warren R. True
Chief Technology Editor -- Pipelines/Gas Processing
Oil & Gas Journal
MÉRIDA, MEXICO, Nov. 15 -- Security -- past, present, and future -- for the natural gas and petroleum pipelines of North America was the unifying theme in remarks that opened the Sexto Congreso y Exposición Internacional de Ductos in Mérida, Yucatán, Wednesday.
The biennial conference and exhibition is sponsored by the Comité Interorganismos de Ductos de Petróleos Mexicanos.
Speakers on the opening panel were Claudio F. Urencio Castro from Pemex Gas y Petroquímica Básica, Rafael Fernández de la Garza from Pemex Corporativo, Greg Belenksy of Duke Energy USA, Al Richie from West Coast Energy Pipeline, and Bert Pots from Shell Global Solutions of the US.
Belenksy, representing the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America, noted that INGAA's members include not only major US pipelines but also Pemex and the major Canadian interprovincial carriers West Coast Pipe Lines Ltd. and TransCanada PipeLines Ltd.
He summarized the current INGAA goals and programs aimed at addressing major pipeline safety issues. Specifically, he noted that the association and its members were reviewing all procedures and practices with the goal of tightening access to pipeline facilities as a reaction to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Despite two highly publicized US pipeline incidents, Belensky said the rate of overall accidents has improved in recent years as the effects of new and improved risk-assessment and system-integrity programs have spread. The terrorist threat will be met with the same dedication, he said.
Richie represented Canada's regulatory agency, the National Energy Board. He explained that the NEB had in the past 18 months shifted its regulatory approach to a goal-oriented system from the former prescriptive approach that attempted to tell pipeline operators how to achieve necessary levels of safety and system integrity.
This new approach has evolved, he said, from close cooperation with Canadian pipeline operators, which, he noted, over the past 5-7 years have significantly reduced incident levels on their systems and especially reduced ruptures. Since 1995, there have been no ruptures from stress corrosion cracking (SCC), for example, thanks to industry's efforts. SCC had been a particularly vexing problem on Canadian pipelines up to that time.
Pots outlined Shell's recently instituted program for integrity management.
PGPB's Castro said the company's system, which includes LPG lines as well as natural gas, experienced no accidents in 1999-2001. He attributed that achievement to renewed Pemex efforts to improve safety, integrity, and performance. Specifically, he noted that Pemex's new supervisory control and data acquisition system, installed in the late 1990s, was integral to the company's success in improving its accident record.
Finally, Fernández de la Garza said problems persist within Mexico regarding Pemex's ability to gain access to pipeline rights-of-way to perform necessary maintenance and repairs.
And, he said ongoing problems of vandalism and theft from pipelines remain a concern. He said the concern is not so much damage and product loss costs as it is the grave dangers to nearby residents and the environment.
