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SEPTEMBER 2009ISSUE 001

South America

Trenching Arctic Terrain Review

Nord Stream

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2 PIPELINES INTERNATIONAL | SEPTEMBER 2009

12

ISSUE 001 | SEPTEMBER 2009

32 40

The publishers welcome editorial contributions from interestedparties. However, the publishers do not accept responsibilityfor the content of these contributions and the views containedtherein which will not necessarily be the views of the publish-ers. The publishers do not accept responsibility for any claimsmade by advertisers.

Unless explicitly stated otherwise in writing, by providing edito-rial material to Great Southern Press (GSP), including text andimages you are providing permission for that material to be sub-sequently used by GSP, whole or in part, edited or un changed,alone or in combination with other material in any publicationor format in print or online or howsoever distributed, whetherproduced by GSP and its agents and associates or another partyto whom GSP has provided permission.

NORTHERN HEMISPHERE(Editorial and Technical)

PO Box 21Beaconseld, BucksHP9 1NSUnited KingdomTel: +44 1494 675139Fax: +44 1494 670155

[email protected]

CONTENTS

SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE(Sales and Subscriptions)

GPO Box 4967Melbourne VIC 3001AustraliaTel: +61 3 9248 5100Fax: +61 3 9602 2708

REGULARS

4 From the Editor64 Advertisers Index Subscription Form Coming in future issues

AROUND THE WORLD

6 Pipeline reduces costs in Colombia8 REX-East two thirds complete10 Transit countries agree

on Nabucco Gas Pipeline12 Oil pipeline heats up in India13 MoU signed for Trans-Sahara14 Dolphin goes overland15 Project briefs16 World WrapPIPES & PEOPLE

18 Meet the Pipelines International team

REGION REVIEW: SOUTH AMERICA

19 South America snapshot23 Pipeline past and present

with Petrobras25 TGS set to expand

26 Continuous integritymonitoring for pipelinesTECHNICAL

30 Integrity forecasting andbamboo pipelines

NORD STREAM

32 Nord Stream: piping throughthe Baltic Sea

37 EUPECs Nord Stream pipe-coatingplants get up and running

PIPELINE EQUIPMENT

40 Choosing the right trencher42 ALLU lls in Kentucky43 Advantages and limitations

of using chain trenchers in rockTERRAIN REVIEW: ARCTIC

46 Overcoming the challengesof Arctic pipelines

48 Modelling tools aid inArctic pipeline design

MEET THE ASSOCIATION

50 PRCI: providing pipelineresearch worldwide

INDUSTRY NEWS

51 Going with the ow:internal coatings

52 The last line of defence 53 Pipeline research groups

collaborate 54 Safety and efficiency on the job siteREGULATORY

55 Harmonisation of pipelinestandards through ISO

HISTORY

56 Druzhba PipelinePRODUCTS AND SERVICES

58 DNV and Gassco develop newacoustic inspection method

58 Get welding with the light P625welder

58 One Eye magneticseparation system

EVENTS

59 Pipeline evaluation conferenceready to hit Pittsburgh

59 Upcoming Events60 Pigging and Integrity 2010

in Houston60 Carnival for Pipelines in Rio

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We are delighted to present to ourworldwide readership the rstissue of Pipelines International . Pipelines International will set a newstandard for industry publications in termsof its technical and global news content,while also providing companies that areactive in the industry with an unmatchedopportunity to communicate directlywith decision makers in the oil, gas, andhydrocarbons pipeline industry.

Pipelines International has beenlaunched following the merger of twocompanies with long histories of publishingin the pipeline and energy elds ScienticSurveys and Great Southern Press. Bycombining their strengths we believe wewill benet of readers and the industry as

a whole. Th e new company, which will beknown as Great Southern Press, will buildupon the successes and the strengths of thecompanies that formed it.

For a number of months, headlinesaround the world have been focusing onthe economic situation and the immensedifficulties the downturn has imposed onindividuals and companies in many industrialsectors. There is no denying the fact that hugechanges are underway, and the world as awhole is having to readjust to the new regimethat these changes are introducing. Manymight therefore see this as a poor choice oftime to launch a new industry publication.The hydrocarbons pipeline industry is,however, particularly buoyant currently,and forecasts for the next ve years aretremendously positive for both onshore andoffshore pipeline construction.

Fuelled, of course, by the worldsburgeoning need for energy, gas pipelineprojects have never been of greatersignicance, and are focusing on transportingreserves from more technically challengingareas than ever before. Oil, too, is in high

demand, and requires transport over longerdistances and through terrain of increasingcomplexity and environmental sensitivity.

Two recently published authoritativereports highlight the strength of the pipelineindustry and its forecast growth over thenext few years. Looking offshore, IneldSystems has identied 81,293 km of pipeline,in all water depths, that are to be installedby 2013. When adding in the approximately22,150 km of control lines also planned, thisrepresents an investment over ve years of$US265 billion.

As far as the onshore industry isconcerned, Douglas Westwoods reportpoints out that around 157,000 km ofpipelines are planned up to 2013, at a costof over $US178 billion, which is a 15 per centincrease in length installed and a 27 percent increase in investment relative to theprevious ve-year period.

Gas pipelines will make up 95,341 km,and oil pipelines 35,034 km of the total, inwhich LNG transportation will also play asignicant role. Some specic projects thatwill contribute to these totals are featuredin this issue, among which are reviews of various aspects of the twin 1,220 km, 48 inchdiameter Nord Stream Pipelines, which willbe the longest subsea pipelines in the worldwhen commissioned in 2011 and 2012.

Two further articles discuss the issuessurrounding the design and engineeringof pipelines in the Arctic, a region thatis becoming of great signicance. As atestament to this, the proposed pipeline tobring Alaskan gas to markets in the southernUnited States is expected to cost over$US30 billion, and the latest published costestimate for the Mackenzie Gas Pipeline fromthe Mackenzie Delta area is $US16 billion.Many other projects are also underway orplanned, as our news items show, all ofwhich are contributing to the strength of ourindustry.

Pipelines International will be presentat several major industry events in the nextfew months. Starting at the Rio de JaneiroPipeline Conference in September, the listincludes the Pipeline Technology Conferencein Ostend, Belgium and our own Evaluationand Rehabilitation of Pipelines Conferencein Pittsburgh, United States (organisedjointly with Clarion Technical Conferences)in October, and Pemex biennial pipelineintegrity meeting in Monterrey, Mexico, inNovember. The strength and of these events,

and their importance, also form a bellwetherfor the industry as a whole, and we lookforward to reporting on them in the nextissue.

John Tiratsoo Editor-in-Chief

FROM THE EDITOR

Cover shows a pipelinerunning from facilities atPetrobras Gasjap elds,Brazil.

Editor-in-Chief: John TiratsooAssociate Editor: Lyndsie MewettProduct Manager: Scott PearceJournalists: Kat St Lawrence,

Sarah Paul,Hayley JachMandy Wong

Sales Manager: Tim ThompsonSnr Account Manager: David MarshSales Representative: Brett ThompsonDesign Manager: Michelle BottgerDesigners: Sandra Noke

Stephanie RoseVenysia Kurniawan

Publisher: Chris Bland

ISSN: 1837-1167

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Construction was completed in August 2009on the Rubiales Oil Pipeline also called theOleoducto de los Llanos Orientales (ODL), whichwill link the Rubiales Oil Field with the Monterreypumping station, Colombia.

The pipeline was constructed by and will be operated byOleoducto de los Llanos Orientales S.A., jointly owned byPacic Rubiales Energy and Ecopetrol S.A. The two companiessigned a Memorandum of Understanding in 2007 to establish thejoint venture company and develop the project.

Pacic Rubiales Energy Chief Executive Officer Ronald Pantinsaid We remain focused on executing our internal growth strategyas the pipeline is completed on time and on budget, which willallow us to take the Rubiales eld to its full potential.

The 235 km, 24 inch diameter pipeline will provide a cheaperway for the company to transport crude oil from the eld to theMonterrey pumping station, where it will connect to the existingOleoducto Central Pipeline that transports oil to the Covenas portfor export. Currently oil is trucked, and the pipeline will reducetransportation costs by approximately 50 per cent.

Initial capacity of the pipeline will be 170,000 bbl/d of blendedheavy oil, with a potential for expansion to 260,000 bbl/d with the

addition of booster pump stations.The project, includes the construction of pumping and storagefacilities.

Pacic Rubiales Energy has said that the pipeline wasmechanically completed and was in the nal stages of hydrostatictesting in early August 2009, and line lling would begin followingtesting completion.

The Rubiales Oil Field encompasses the Rubiales and Piririproducing concessions. Located in the Llanos Basin, 465 km fromBogot, the blocks have a combined area of 569 sq km.

In mid-March 2008, average production from the Rubiales OilField was approximately 30,253 bbl/d. Now, the production andprocessing capacity at the Rubiales eld is on track to full theproduction goal of 100,000 bbl/d by the end of 2009.

The Rubiales Oil Pipeline is a key element of Pacic RubialesEnergys master plan for the Rubiales Oil Field. It is expected to costapproximately $US397 million.

Pipeline reducescosts in Colombia

AROUND THE WORLD

The 235 km, 24 inch diameter pipeline will provide a cheaper way for the companyto transport crude oil from the field to theMonterrey pumping station.

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Oleoducto de los Llanos Orientales S.A. completesconstruction activities at the Rubiales Oil Pipeline.

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The 1,027 km Rockies Express-East Pipeline (REX-East) is the finalsegment of the Rockies Express Gas Pipeline, which will eventuallylink Colorado and Ohio across the United States.

The Rockies Express Pipeline is oneof the largest natural gas pipelinesconstructed in North America. Itconsists of three parts: Rockies ExpressEntrega, Rockies Express-West (REX-West)and REX-East. The entire pipeline will span2,702 km from Rio Blanco County, Colorado,to Monroe County, Ohio.

REX is being developed by RockiesExpress Pipeline LLC, a joint developmentof Kinder Morgan Energy Partners,ConocoPhillips, and Sempra Pipelines &Storage a subsidiary of Sempra Energy.

The 42 inch diameter pipeline will havea capacity of 1.6 billion cubic feet per day ofnatural gas with a potential to increase to1.8 billion cubic feet per day.

The REX-East Pipeline will provideenergy to markets in Illinois, Indiana andOhio with access to natural gas suppliesfrom the Rocky Mountain supply basins.

The project includes the construction ofve compressor stations along the route, aswell as two new stations along the REX-West,where the gas will be re-pressurised andmoved through the system. The compressorstations will be located in Audrain County,Missouri; Christian County, Illinois; PutnamCounty, Indiana; Warren County, Ohio andMuskingum County, Ohio.

The United States Federal Energy

Regulatory Commission (FERC) deemed theproject environmentally acceptable in itsnal Environmental Impact Statement inApril 2008. The FERC approved constructionof the REX-East Pipeline in June 2008.

The FERC concluded that the projectdesign was consistent with federal resourcemanagement plans, limiting environmentalimpact and promoting restoration of alldisturbed areas during construction andoperation of the project. More than 59 percent of the pipeline route follows existingrights-of-way.

Currently, the portion of the pipelinefrom Audrain County, Missouri, to WarrenCounty, Ohio, is already in service. The entirepipeline is expected to be in service by1 November 2009.

REX-East two thirdscomplete

P ipe act iv it i es covered d es ert te r rain.

Welding tents along the REX-East Pipeline.

A sect ion of the pipeline spr ea d. Imag es

courte sy of Rockie s E x pr es s Pipeline.

The project includesthe construction of fivecompressor stations alongthe route, as well as twonew stations along theREX-West.

AROUND THE WORLD

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AROUND THE WORLD

European efforts to reduce dependence on Russian gas have spawned a major gas pipeline projecttotalling 3,300 km the Nabucco Pipeline.

The Nabucco Pipeline will bring naturalgas from the Caspian region, MiddleEast and Egypt to Central and WesternEuropean gas markets via Eastern Europe,reducing dependence on gas from Russia.

The pipeline will total approximately3,300 km in length starting at the Turkishborder of either Georgia or Iran, and leadto Baumgarten in Austria. Gas will then befurther transported to Central and WesternEurope through Austria.

Capacity of the 7.9 billion ($US11.26billion) pipeline will reach a maximum of31 billion cubic metres per annum.

Front-end engineering and design (FEED)contracts for the project were awarded in May2009 to ve local engineering companies inAustria, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania andTurkey, for work on the countries respectivepipeline sections.

In 2005, Nabucco Pipeline Internationalidentied that only 42 per cent of gasconsumption in the European Union (EU) wascovered by indigenous production, leaving58 per cent that was imported, mostly fromNorway, Algeria and Russia. Market studieshave indicated that gas demand will increasein the future. Combined with a decline ofdomestic production, the EU is forecasted torequire up to 80 per cent of gas consumptionto be imported.

Nabucco Pipeline International isdirectly owned by the Nabucco partners,which are Austrias OMV Gas & Power,Bulgarian Energy Holding, Germanys RWE,MOL Hungarian Oil and Gas, RomaniasTransgaz, and Turkeys Botas.

In July 2009, transit countries for theNabucco Gas Pipeline project signed anIntergovernmental Agreement in Ankara,Turkey, to allow the project to pass throughtheir territory.

Nabucco Pipeline InternationalManaging Director Reinhard Mitschek saidThe completion of the Intergovernmental

Agreement represents a signicantbreakthrough in the realisation of thisproject. The pipeline now has a stable legalbasis, and can guarantee gas transit underequal and transparent conditions for allcustomers.

The agreement ensures equal legalconditions for the transport of gasthroughout the pipeline system, and setsout a methodology for transport tariff andnetwork access.

Nabucco Pipeline International hassaid that the next steps in taking theproject forward will include detailedtechnical planning, as well as social andenvironmental impact assessments.

Transit countries agreeon Nabucco Gas Pipeline

Top: Flags of the countries involved in the NabuccoPipeline.Bottom: Nabucco shareholders at the intergov-ernmental agreement in July. Images courtesy ofNabucco Pipeline International.

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PIPELINES INTERNATIONAL | SEPT EMBER 2009 13

AROUND THE WORLD

Nigeria, Niger and Algeria have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to construct theTrans-Sahara Gas Pipeline, which will carry gas from Nigeria, across all three countries and connectwith existing gas pipelines to Europe.

Petroleum and energy ministersRilwan Lukman of Nigeria, ChakibKhelil of Algeria and MohammedAbdullahi of Niger signed the agreement inAbuja, Nigeria in July.

The pipeline will span approximately4,400 km from the Warri region in Nigeria,to Hassi RMel in Algeria, and is expectedto have a capacity of 30 billion cubic metresper annum.

The project is expected to deliver rst

gas by 2015, and cost a total of $US12 billionto construct.

Russian state gas company Gazpromrecently formed a joint venture with theNigerian National Petroleum Corporation(NNPC) for energy development in Nigeria.The venture is intended for executing large-scale projects in oil and gas exploration,production and transportation, as well asthe construction of associated facilities.

Gazprom has said that the joint venture

will construct the Nigerian part of the Trans-Sahara Gas Pipeline. The Nigerian sectionwill be 360 km in length, and is likely to costbetween $US400500 million. This will bethe rst trunk line section to be constructed.

Feasibility studies recently commissionedby NNPC for the trinational project haveproved it commercially viable.

NNPC Group Managing DirectorMohammed Sanusi Barkindo has said thatthe Trans-Sahara Gas Pipeline project will

strengthen relations between the countriesinvolved.

The signing of the MoU on the projectwill demonstrate to the internationalcommunity our resolve to strengthen ourbilateral relations as well as our commitmentto pursue the project, Mr Barkindo said.

He said the project remains a uniqueopportunity for both Nigeria and Algeriato diversify their source of energy supplythrough gas.

Gas is gradually becoming the fuel ofrst choice as well as the preferred sourceof energy, he said.

President and Chief Executive Officerof Algerian national oil and gas companySonatrach Mohammed Mezaine said Algeriawelcomed the opportunity to partake in theproject and was ready to add value to it forthe benet of all parties involved.

Mr Mezaine said the project woulddevelop the communities along the pipeline

route throughout all three countries.European Union (EU) Energy

Commissioner Andris Piebalgs said thataccess to Nigerian gas reserves was crucialto Europe as gas consumption is on the rise.

Mr Piebalgs said natural gas importsmay reach 85 per cent of the EUsconsumption by 2030, compared with 50per cent in 2000. This raises signicantconcerns about the EUs security ofsupply.

MoU signed for Trans-Sahara

AROUND THE WORLD

Cairn India Limited is set to complete construction on itsRajasthan Gujarat heated dual oil pipeline by the end of 2009.

The dual pipeline will export heatedcrude oil from the Mangala eld inRajasthan to Salaya on the Gujaraticoast, via Viramgam, where the oil will thenbe exported by tankers to coastal reneries.

A 24 inch diameter pipeline will carrycrude oil, while an 8 inch pipeline runningalongside it will carry natural gas from theRaageshwari Gas Field in Rajasthan. The gaswill be used to power heating stations alongthe pipeline route, which will heat the waxy

crude oil to enable it to ow through theexport pipeline.In June 2009, GE Energy won a contract to

supply Cairn India with its J420 GS Jenbachergas engines.

GEs Jenbacher engines will be installedat 32 sites along the pipelines route tomeet the 1 MW load requirement at eachstation. The engines, powered by natural gassupplied from the adjoining 8 inch diameterpipeline, will primarily be used to generatepower to maintain the uidity of the waxycrude oil as it is transported.

At the time of writing, constructionactivities at all of the 32 heating stations hadreached 70 per cent completion.

In 2008, Larsen and Toubro (L&T) wasawarded an engineering, procurementand construction contract for the project.L&T President K Venkataramanan said theunique mega pipeline was the rst of itskind in India.

The pipeline is part of Cairns MangalaField Development Plan, which has been

approved by the Government of IndiaManagement Committee.Cairn India, as operator, holds a 70 per

cent interest in the joint venture, with ONGCholding the remaining 30 per cent.

At the time of writing, approximately520 km of the 600 km pipeline had beenwelded, and more than 400 km was in theground, with pre-commissioning and testingactivities underway.

The pipeline will have a total capacityof approximately 150,000 bbl/d of oil once itbecomes fully operational.

Oil pipeline heats up in India

This imag e and above: P ipe line a ct ivit ies are und erw ay . I ma ges c ourte sy of Cairn I ndi a Limited.

Gas will be used to power heating stations along the pipeline route, which will heat the waxy crude oil toenable it to flow through the export pipeline.

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In a bid to ensure global energy security, pipeline projects continue to be proposedworldwide. Here, Pipelines International outlines a selection of up and coming projectswithin the pipeline industry.

Project briefs

China to lay pipelines from the Bay of BengalChina National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) has

announced plans to construct parallel oil and gas pipelinesfrom the Kyaukpyu deep-sea port on Burmas Arakan Coast inthe Bay of Bengal to Kunming, China.

The 1,100 km gas pipeline will connect to key blocks inBurmas Shwe gas elds, carrying approximately 12 billioncubic metres per annum to Kunming.

The oil pipeline will reduce Chinas dependence ontransport through the Malacca Straits, through which 80 percent of its 4 MMbbl/d oil imports currently pass. CNPC hassaid that when the pipelines are complete, Chinese tankerswill offload up to 0.6 MMbbl/d of oil from West Asia and Africaat Kyaukpyu.

The pipelines are expected to be completed by 2013.

Algerian pipeline could feed gas to EuropeAlgerian state energy company Sonatrach has awarded $US1.4 billion worth of contracts to Saipem and

Petrojet for the construction of the GK3 Pipeline, connecting the Hassi RMel Gas Field, located 550 km southof Algiers, to El Kala, on the Algerian coast.

Eni subsidiary Saipem and Egypts Petrojet will each construct a section of the 784 km pipeline,Sonatrach has said. Petrojet will build the rst two sections of the pipeline running 433 km from Hassi RMelto Mechatine, and Saipem is to construct the remaining section to Skikda port and El Kala, a total of 351 km.

The GK3 Pipeline will boost output from Hassi RMel to 9 billion cubic metres per annum. The additionalcapacity will be used to feed two Algerian power stations, the domestic gas network, an LNG terminal, andalso ll the proposed Galsi pipeline linking Algeria to Spain.

Chevron En-bridges the Gulf of MexicoChevron and Enbridge have signed a Letter of Intent to

expand Enbridges Gulf of Mexico offshore pipeline system,which currently services Chevrons Jack and St Malo gas elds.

The proposed Walker Ridge Gathering System (WRGS)will include approximately 306 km of 8, 10 or 12 inchdiameter pipelines at depths of up to 2 km. The existing1,578 km pipeline system has a capacity of 2.5 billion cubicfeet per day of gas, and the WRGS would expand this by100 million cubic feet per day of gas.

Enbridge has said that the WRGS is estimated to costapproximately $US500 million, subject to nalisation of thescope of the project.

Enbridge President and Chief Executive Officer PatrickD. Daniel said The Walker Ridge Gathering System willtie in a new supply source for Enbridges Manta Ray andNautilius offshore pipeline systems, enhancing Enbridgesexisting offshore pipeline business and establishing astrategic base for future growth opportunities in theultra-deep Gulf of Mexico.

Go west with South StreamRussias Gazprom, Italian energy giant Eni and the

Turkish Government have plans to jointly construct theSouth Stream Pipeline to carry Russian gas to Europe.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and TurkishPrime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan have signed anagreement providing for constructing part of the SouthStream Pipeline through Turkish waters in the Black Sea.

The pipeline will run from Russia, 900 km under theBlack Sea to the Bulgarian coast, where it will then splitinto two branches.

The south branch will run through Bulgaria andGreece, and then a subsea portion will reach Italy. Thesecond branch will divert northward through Serbia andHungary to Austria.

Previously, Eni and Gazprom agreed to increase theSouth Stream Pipelines capacity to 63 billion cubic metresper annum (Bcm/a) from the initially-planned 31 Bcm/a.

PROJECT BRIEFS


The Taweelah Fujairah Gas Pipeline will be one of the longest andlargest overland pipelines in the United Arab Emirates.

Dolphin Energy has raised$US4.1 billion to fund its Taweelah Fujairah Pipeline project as well as torenance debt.

The 240 km pipeline will carry gas fromDolphins Taweelah gas terminal on thePersian Gulf coast across the United ArabEmirates, to Abu Dhabi Water and ElectricityAuthoritys Power and Water DesalinationPlant in the emirate of Fujairah, on the coastof the Gulf of Oman.

Dolphins Taweelah terminal receives gasfrom Qatars North Field via the companysexisting 364 km subsea export pipeline fromRas Laffan at a rate of approximately 2 billioncubic feet per day. Facilities at the Taweelahterminal include three parallel receivingtrains as well as metering facilities.

Stroytransgaz has been awarded a$US418 million engineering, procurementand construction contract for the pipeline,

which encompasses building the linearpart of the pipeline, including two scraperlauncher-receiver units, nine line-valveunits, a gas metering station, as well asinstalling a SCADA system, a system fordetecting gas leaks and ensuring re safety,electrochemical erosion protection, self-regulating and control instrumentation, andtelecommunications equipment.

Salzgitter Mannesmann Internationalwill supply 120,000 tonnes of X70 48 inchcoated line pipe for the project, at a cost ofover $US200 million.

Dolphin expects that by February 2010,a 127 km portion of the pipeline that extendsfrom the Taweelah facility and ties in withthe companys existing Al Ain to Fujairahpipeline will be completed. This will allowDolphin to feed Fujairah facilities with gasuntil the Taweelah Fujairah Pipeline iscompleted later in 2009.

Mubadala Development Company, onbehalf of the Government of Abu Dhabi,owns 51 per cent of Dolphin Energy, withTotal and Occidental Petroleum owning24.5 per cent each.

Dolphin goes overland

Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authoritys gas-red power and water plant in Fujairah has an electricity generation capacity of650 MW and seawater desalination capacity of 455 ML/d.

Dolphins gas processing plant at Ras Laffan.

Dolphin Energys 24 inch, 182 km natural gas pipeline connecting Al Ain with the UAE east coastEmirate of Fujairah.

Dolphin Energys Qatar North Field. Images courtesyof Dolphin Energy.

AROUND THE WORLD

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WORLD WRAPWORLD WRAP

Canadian slurry pipeline expansion completeInter Pipeline Fund has completed and successfully dry-commissioned theexpansion of its Corridor Pipeline System, located in Alberta, Canada. The slurrypipeline expansion project involved the installation of 467 km of 42 inch diameterpipeline and 43 km of 20 inch diameter pipeline. Four large scale pump stationswere also constructed. The expansion is designed to increase diluted bitumencapacity on the Corridor Pipeline System from 300,000 bbl/d to 465,000 bbl/d.

Slurry gets piped in Madagascar Joint venture partners Dynatec andImplats are constructing a 195 km pipelineto deliver slurried laterite ore from theAmbatovy mine site to a process plantnear Toamasina, Madagascar. The pipelinewill cost approximately $US156 million to

construct. Pipeline Systems Incorporatedwas awarded a contract to design the550 mm diameter pipeline, which willhave a capacity of 826 tonnes per hour ofore in aqueous slurry of 40 per cent solids.

Enagas commissions Spanish pipelinesEnagas has commissioned $US606 million worth ofassets in the rst half of 2009, including the 26 inchdiameter, 92.2 km Lemona Haro Gas Pipeline, aswell as a number of sections of the 42 inch diameter220 km Almera Chinchilla Pipeline, a sectionof the 24 inch diameter, 63.8 km Montesa DeniaPipeline and the Lumbier Compressor Station.Enags also plans to bring a 268 km pipelineconnecting the Balearic Islands to the mainland intooperation by the third quarter of 2009.

GAIL signs gas sale contractsGAIL has signed a 12-year gas sales contract with theSGL consortium and Rajasthan Rajya Vidyut UtpadanNigam Limited (RRVUNL), in which they will sourcegas from SGLs RJ-ON/6 block, located in Shahgarh inthe west of India, to supply RRVUNLs 160 MW powerplant at Ramgarh. GAIL will construct a 90 km, 10 inchdiameter pipeline from SGLs permit to supply thepower plant with 0.95 million cubic metres per dayof gas. The pipeline is expected to be completed byFebruary 2010.

New owner for North Sea Brent SystemThe Abu Dhabi National Energy Company has taken over operatorship of theNorth Sea Brent System Pipeline and facilities. The United Kingdom arm of thecompany, TAQA Bratani Limited, will take over from Shell UK Exploration andProduction as the operator of the system. The Brent System is responsible fortransporting approximately 100,000 bbl per day of oil along a 150 km pipelinefrom 20 North Sea elds.

Early works for PNG LNGClough has been issued a work order for advanced mobilisation and early works for ExxonMobils Papua NewGuinea (PNG) LNG Project. The contract is valued at $US42.3 million and includes the construction of camps, andselect road and bridge upgrades. The PNG LNG Project involves an integrated development of the Hides, Angoreand Juha gas elds as well as associated gas from the Kutubu, Agogo, Gobe and Moran oil elds. Gas will betransported to an LNG plant near Port Moresby through more than 700 km of large diameter pipeline.

16 PIPELINES INTERNATIONAL | SEPTEMBER 2009 PIPELINES INTERNATIONAL | SEPTEMBER 2009 17

New compressor station for Rompco pipelineThe Republic of Mozambique Pipeline InvestmentCompany (Rompco) has invested $US135 million inthe construction of a compressor station to increasethe capacity of its Temane Secunda Pipeline byapproximately 20 per cent. Rompco is a joint venturebetween Sasol, iGas and Compania Mozambicanade Gasoduto. Sasol said Two gas turbine drivencompressor units and ancillary equipment will beused at Komatipoort to increase gas ow rates inRompcos 865 km trans-border pipeline that transportsthe natural gas from the Pande and Temane gas eldsin Mozambique to Sasols operations at Secundaand Sasolburg in South Africa. Foster Wheeler wasawarded a contract for engineering, procurement andconstruction of the compressor station.

Subsea pipeline for ArgentinaNacin Fideicomisos S.A. hasawarded Royal Boskalis Westminsterand Allseas Group a $US253.4million contract to construct a38 km gas pipeline through theStrait of Magellan in southernArgentina. The pipeline is to be 24inches in diameter and is due forcompletion by the end of this year.It will connect Cape Espritu Santoand Cape Virgenes and will providean important link for gas elds in

the south to connect with the maingas network of Argentina.

Protection for Nigerian pipelinesNigeria has signed an agreement withRussian maintenance rm Ruscorp to helpupgrade and protect its oil pipeline networkand build new distribution lines. Nigeriasstate-run Nigerian National PetroleumCorporation owns approximately 6,000 kmof pipeline i nfrastructure.

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18 PIPELINES INTERNATIONAL | SEPTEMBER 2009 PIPELINES INTERNATIONAL | SEPT EMBER 2009 19

PIPES & PEOPLE

The launch of Pipelines International ,follows the merger of two leadingproviders in the technical andbusiness information market ScienticSurveys and Great Southern Press.

The magazine is a quarterly publicationincluding region reviews; project reviews;and project, company and regulatory news,as well as features on important industryareas.

Pipelines International is fully supportedby a comprehensive online presence andreects the diversity of the pipeline i ndustryacross the continents.

Mr Tiratsoo says Pipelines Internationalwill set a new standard for industrypublications and will provide companiesthat are active in the industry with anincredible opportunity to communicatedirectly with decision makers.

Our new range of online products,integrated under the same PipelinesInternational brand, includes free content atthe Pipelines International website as well aspaid premium content.

Trading under the name Great SouthernPress, the merged company has globalscope, with head offices in the UK and theAsia Pacic, as well as a strong presencein Houston and contacts throughout SouthAmerica, Europe and the Middle East.

John Tiratsoo, Editor-in-Chief John Tiratsoos extensive technical

information and pipeline industry resourcesand knowledge is second to none.

John has also been one of the keymovers in the recent establishment of theProfessional Institute of Pipeline Engineers.

John is currently Editor of Journal ofPipeline Engineering and has previouslyedited Pipelines International s predecessor,Pipeline World .

Scott Pearce, Product ManagerScott Pearce has been reporting on

the pipeline industry for several yearsand is excited about the opportunities the

magazine is set to provide theglobal industry.

He has been with GreatSouthern Press for six years andis the Editor of The Australian Pipeliner .

Lyndsie Mewett, Associate Editor

Lyndsie brings her strongeditorial experience to the roleand is also Associate Editor of the Pipelines International Update .

Lyndsie is currently Managing Editorof The Australian Pipeliner , Editor of PPO Latest , a daily online news service dedicatedto pipeline, plant and offshore projectinformation, and Editor of the Pipeline Asianews service.

Tim Thompson, Sales Manager Pipelines International Sales Manager

Tim Thompson has many years experienceleading a sales team for a number of highlyregarding industry magazines, includingTrenchless International .

David Marsh, Senior Account Manager

Pipelines International Senior AccountManager David Marsh has extensiveexperience in the pipeline industry, havingworked in sales for both Australian andinternational magazines.

Brett Thompson, SalesRepresentative

Sales Representative Brett Thompsonhas dedicated sales experience in industrypublications such as Trenchless Internationaland Gas Today .

The Pipelines International team is dedicated to delivering the latest news and information on thepipeline industry from around the world. The team is led by Editor-in-Chief John Tiratsoo, who hasbeen publishing information about the industry for over 30 years.

Meet the Pipelines International team

LET US KNOW YOUR NEWS!If you have some company news, let us know. For your news to be published in

Pipes and People, contact us at [email protected]

Left to right: Editor-in-Chief John Tiratsooand Product Manager Scott Pearce

SOUTH AMERICA

ArgentinaArgentina plays a key role in South

American oil and natural gas markets. Crudeoil, rened products, and natural gas areexported through pipelines to Chile, Braziland Uruguay.

Originally, Argentinas pipeline sectorwas developed by state-owned companyGas del Estado. In 1992, the company wasprivatised and its business split off to

approximately ten companies includingTransportadora de Gas del Sur (TGS) andTransportadora de Gas del Norte (TGN).

Since 1992, TGS has held an exclusivelicence to operate the southern portion ofGas del Estados gas transmission lines.TGSs pipeline system 8,627 km long connects the Neuqun, San Jorge andAustral basins to the main consumptioncentres of southern Argentina, including theAutonomous City of Buenos Aires and theGreater Buenos Aires area.

For more information on TGSsactivities turn to page 25.

From the commencement of itsoperations in 1992, TGN has increased itstransportation capacity by 138 per centthrough the installation of 1,553 km of newpipeline and the construction of ve newcompressor stations.

Argentinas pipeline systemIn 1949, Techint was awarded the

construction contract for a gas pipeline

running 1,770 km from ComodoroRivadavia to Llavallol, Buenos Aires.Comodoro Rivadavia is a commercial andtransportation centre for the surrounding

region and an export point for Argentina.The 3,756 km, 30 inch diameter General

San Martin Gas Pipeline begins in Tierradel Fuego at the southern tip of Argentina,crosses the Strait of Magellan, passesthrough the Cerri gas processing complex,and ends at the Gutierrez Metering Stationand Maintenance Base near the city of LaPlata. The pipeline has six compressorstations.

The pipeline was constructed in threestages: the rst was built in 1964 whenPico Truncado in the Province of Santa Cruzwas linked to Buenos Aires. The second andthird construction stages took place in 1975and 1978 the latter including the offshorecrossing of the Strait of Magellan.

The Neuba I and Neuba II GasPipelines start in the city of Neuquen, passthrough the Cerri gas processing complex,and end near Buenos Aires. The Neuba IPipeline was constructed in 1970, runs1,971 km and ranges from 2530 inchesin diameter. There are eight compressorstations along the pipeline. The 3036 inchNeuba II Pipeline runs 2,201 km and has sixcompressor stations along the line. Neuba IIwas completed in 1988.

In 1981, the Centro Oeste Gas Pipeline was constructed, beginning at the Lomala Lata eld and running 1,121 km to reachthe San Jernimo compressor station. Eightcompressor plants are located along thepipeline. It has a daily injection capacity of34 million cubic metres per day (MMcm/d)and 2,148 km of loops.

From San Jernimo, two main loops areconnected to the high pressure ring thatsupplies gas to Greater Buenos Aires andthe Federal City. Another system branch

begins at San Jernimo, runs along 188 kmup to Santa Fe City, crosses Parana River andnishes at Aldea Brasilera locality in theprovince of Entre Rios.

Yacimientos Petroliferos Fiscales PuestoHernandez Cerro Divisadero Oil Pipelineruns 171 km between Puesto Hernandezand Cerro Divisadero, and includes threepumping stations at Puesto Hernandez. Theproject was completed in August 1990.

Techint completed construction of theGasAndes Pipeline in 1997. The pipeline runsfrom Argentina to Chile and has a diameterof 24 inches. Approximately 310 km of thepipeline is located in Argentina and 145 kmin Chilean territory.

The pipeline starts at the La Moracompressor station, in the province ofMendoza, Argentina. It runs across the Andesin Paso Maipo and reaches Santiago in Chile.

The 530 km Gasoducto del PacicoPipeline opened in November 1999. Ittransports approximately 4 MMcm/d of gasto southern Chile. Gasoducto del Paccosupplies municipal distributors and gas-redpower plants. In addition, the 930 km,8.5 MMcm/d GasAtacama Pipeline , whichruns from Cornejo, Argentina, to Mejillonesin Chile, reached completion in 2003.

The Norte Pipeline begins at CampoDurn, province of Salta, and aftertravelling 1,454 km, it reaches San Jernimocompressor station in the Province of SantaFe. Originally owned and operated by Gasdel Estado, TGN now operates the pipeline.

The pipeline has nine compressor

stations and has an injection capacity of23.4 MMcm/d. The total pipeline lenght is3,568 km, including the sections that supplygas to the Greater Buenos Aires area.

With the pipeline industry attending the Rio Pipeline Conference and Exhibition, Pipelines Internationallooks at the development of transmission pipelines within South America.

South America snapshotBy Lyndsie Mewett

Lef t to ri ght : S al es Mana ger T i m Thom pson , Ass oc i at e E di t or Ly nd si e Mew et t, S enior Acc ount Mana ger Dav id Marsh and S alesR e present at i ve B r et t T hom pso n.

CONTINUED ON PAGE20

Colombias 804 km Ocensa Pipeline during construction.

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BrazilPetrobras subsidiary Transpetro is

responsible for the operation of a networkexceding 11,000 km of oil, product and gaspipelines, which interconnect Brazilian regions.

Current oil and product pipelines total7,000 km which transports 670 MMcm/aof product. This includes multi-productpipelines through which Petrobras hasbeen moving ethanol in batches for the last30 years. In addition, Transpetro operatesmore than 4,500 km of gas pipelines with atransport capacity of 77 MMcm/d.

For more information about Petrobrasand Transpetros activities see page 23.

Petrobras and BBPP Holdings developedthe Brazilian leg of the 3,150 km Bolivia Brazil Pipeline (GASBOL Pipeline) .First gas owed through the rst leg ofthe pipeline in July 1999, which runs fromSanta Cruz in Bolivia to Sao Paulo in Brazil.Construction of the extension from SaoPaulo to Porto Alegre in southern Brazil wascompleted in May 2000.

The rst leg of the pipeline has adiameter of 32 inches. The second legranges in diameter from 1624 inches.Approximately 2,593 km of the pipeline islocated in Brazilian territory.

The pipeline is designed to achieve amaximum capacity of 30.1 MMcm/d with fullcompression.

In 2006, Petrobras began work onthe Urucu Manaus Gas Pipeline ,designed to carry natural gas from theUrucu hydrocarbons province located inthe municipality of Coari (in the state ofAmazonas) to the state capital, Manaus.

The Urucu Manaus Pipeline will be660 km in length with completion scheduledfor the end of this year. In the rst stage of

operation, the pipeline will transport5 MMcm/d of gas.

Before the construction of the pipeline,there was only one existing line that carriedLPG from a production facility in Urucu toCoari. A line parallel to this, 285 km in lengthwill be constructed to carry the LPG, whilethe existing pipeline will be switched tocarrying natural gas. The following stretchbetween Coari and Manaus will run for afurther 385 km.

A further 125 km of lines will be builtto transport the product to the main city ineach of the municipalities Caori, Codajas,Anori, Anama, Caapiranga, Manacapuru andIranduba located along the course of thepipeline.

The 5,000 km National UnicationGas Pipeline (GASUN Pipeline) in Brazil,connects the Bolivia Brazil Pipeline withthe northern Amazon and the northeaststates allowing transportation of Boliviangas into these regions.

The rst stage of GASUN begins inMimoso, Mato Grosso do Sul, and joinsthe GASBOL pipeline. From there it runstoward Brasilia, passing through Goiania.Construction of this section was completedin 2007.

The longest portion of GASUN will bethe 2,260 km long central-north branch,which is to connect Goias and Maranhao. Itwill pass through Palmas and Belem, Para.The entire natural gas pipeline should becomplete by 2026.

Petrobras plans to expand its pipelinenetwork by 2,400 km of new gas pipelinesand approximately 1,000 km of new oiland product pipelines by 2013. In addition,around 2,000 km of dedicated ethanolpipelines are now under study in Brazil byseveral companies, including Petrobras.

These potential pipelines include anethane pipeline proposed by Uniduto. The

company is looking for partners to build thepipeline that will cost $US832 million andhave a capacity of 21 billion litres per year.The 603 km pipeline will run from the SaoPaulo state to the Santos port. Constructionis scheduled to start in 2010.

Cosan has propsed the construction ofan ethanol pipeline to be in service withinthe next four years. Petrobras has signed anagreement with the Goias State Governmentto build the pipeline. The 988 km pipelinewill run from Goias to a renery in Paulinia,near Sao Paulo to Senador Canendo. Lateralswill extend to the cities of Conchas andRibeirao Preto in Sao Paulo state.

ColombiaIn Colombia, the Cao Limn

Coveas Pipeline connects the CaoLimn Oil Field with Coveas, located onthe Caribbean coastline. The pipeline wasconstructed in 1985 and is jointly ownedby state oil company Empresa de Petroleosde Colombia (EcoPetrol) and OccidentalPetroleum.

The 400 km Upper Magdelena HeavyCrude Oil Pipeline was completed in 1990.The pipeline transports crude oil from theMagdelena Valley in southwest Colombia toVasconia. An extension of the pipeline alsodelivers crude oil to Convenas.

In 1996, the 804 km Ocensa Pipeline was completed. The pipeline ranges between30 and 36 inches in diameter and transports

crude oil from the Cuisiana and Cupiagua oilelds into central Colombia, then to the portof Covenas.

Techint provided detailed engineeringand construction for the 218 km,3036 inch diameter Cusiana La BellezaOil Pipeline for proponent Oleoducto CentralSA. The pipeline was completed in 1997.

This year, construction was completedon the Rubiales Oil Pipeline . The 235 km,24 inch diameter pipeline will transportcrude oil from the Rubiales Oil Field to theMonterrey Pumping Station, where it willconnect to the Ocensa Pipeline.

ChileChile relies on natural gas imported from

Argentina through the pipelines mentionedpreviously due to the countrys limited energyresources. In April 2004, Argentina beganrestricting natural gas exports to Chile becauseof an energy crisis within its own state. Sincethen, Chile has been looking to pursue othersources of natural gas such as piping gas fromother countries or importing LNG.

EcuadorEcoPetrols TransAndino Pipeline runs305 km between Ecuador and Colombia,connecting Ecuadors oil elds with PortTumaco, Colombia. The pipeline has acapacity of 50,000 bbl/d of oil and variesin diameter between 10 and 18 inches. Thepipeline was completed in 1969.

Following this, the approximately500 km Sistema Oleducto Trans-Ecuatoriano (SOTE) Pipeline wasconstructed in the early 1970s in Ecuador.The oil pipeline transports 400,000 bbl/d ofoil and runs from Lago Agrio to the Balao OilTerminal on the Pacic Coast.

SOUTH AMERICASOUTH AMERICA

First gas owed beneath the River Platefrom Argentina to Montevideo, Uruguay,through the $US160 million GasoductoCruz del Sur or Southern Cross Pipeline in November 2002.

The main customer for Argentinenatural gas in Uruguay is UTE, the stateelectricity utility, which uses the gas asfeedstock for its Montevideo power plant.

The Southern Cross Pipeline concessioncovers a possible extension from Uruguayto the Brazilian border, in order to supplypossible markets in southern Brazil. Anumber of marketing and technical studieshave been completed, but are on holdpending greater marketing denition anddevelopment.

The pipeline comprises 193 km of1824 inch high-pressure trunk line, witha capacity of approximately 5 MMcm/d.Approximately 55 km crosses the River

Plate, with the remaining length restingonshore in Uruguay. The facilities alsoinclude approximately 200 km of lowpressure laterals of varying diameters.

A separate 40 km, 18 inch pipeline,known as the Link, was completed inApril 2002 at a cost of $US18 milli on, andconnects the start of the Southern CrossPipeline in Argentina with the Argentineannatural gas grid, operated by TGS.

In November 2006, Techint completedconstruction of Petrobras El MangrulloGas Pipeline . The 60 km, 12 inch diameterpipeline connects the El Mangrullo plantwith Aguada la Arena plant at the ElMangrullo deposit.

The 1,500 km Gasoducto del NorestaArgentina Pipeline (GNA Pipeline) isexpected to supply 20 MMcm/d of gas fromBolivia to northeastern Argentina and willextend through the Argentinean provincesof Salta, Formosa and Chaco, terminating inSanta Fe.

The project was announced in 2003, andin March 2007 Bolivia and Argentina s ignedan agreement to build the pipeline.

In addition, a pipeline has beenproposed to help transport gas aroundArgentina and eliminate the need to im portLNG from Trinidad and Tobago. Enagashas received three offers to constructthe Transmagallanico Pipeline fromSaipem, the Magellan Consortium ofAllseas-Boskalis and Global Industries, andOdebrecht.

The 37.2 km pipeline will have a diameterof 24 inches and is to link Cape Spirit inthe province of Tierra del Fuego, and CapeVirgin, in the province of Santa Cruz. The

pipeline will have a capacity of 18 MMcm/dof gas from elds in the Austral Basin.

BoliviaYPFB Transporte SA owns and operates

more than 3,000 km of gas pipelines and2,700 km of liquid pipelines.

Bolivias natural gas pipeline networkis split into two sections. The 1,271 kmnorthern section connects La Paz, Oruro,Cochabamba and Santa Cruz with gaselds in the Chapare region. The 1,770 kmsouthern section connects Sucre, Potosiand Tariji with gas elds in the Gan Chacoregion, and links into the Yacimientos Bolivian Gulf Pipeline and the Bolivia Brazil Pipeline.

The 440 km Yacimientos BolivianGulf (YABOG) Pipeline transports gas fromBolivia to Argentina. The 24 inch diametertrunkline runs south from Colpa to Yacuiba.A 4 inch diameter lateral pipeline runs west263 km from La Vertiente to Tarija and ElPuente, and a 64 km, 46 inch diameterlateral pipeline runs north from Colpa toGuabira and Mineros.

The Carrasco Valle Hermoso OilPipeline began construction in 2005,transporting crude oil 247 km from elds inCarrasco Province to the Gualberto Villarroelrenery. The pipeline has a diameter rangingfrom 6.8 to 10 inches.

Currently, Bolivia exports natural gasto Argentina and Brazil, and has plans toexport gas to Chile, and Paraguay in thefuture.

The Paraguay, Uruguay and Boliviangovernments have agreed to build a gaspipeline to run 811 km from Tarija, Bolivia, toPuerto Casado on the coast of the Paraguay

River. From there the pipeline will continuesouth to Ciudad del Este where it will crossthe international bridge shared with Braziltoward Rio Grande do Sul State and onwardto Uruguay.

In addition, Bolivia is in talks with Chileand Peru regarding the development of thePacic LNG Project .

Originally the project was to involvepiping natural gas 700 km to a port in Chile,where Chile would build a liquefaction plantfor the export of LNG to the United States. In2004, domestic discontent halted the project.

Since then, it has been proposed thatgas be piped to the port of Ilo in Peru.However the Bolivian government is said tobe reconsidering the Chilean option.


The Southern Gas Pipeline proposal involves an8,000 km pipeline tocarry gas from northernVenezuela to Argentina,with branches in Bolivia,Uruguay and Paraguay.

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 19

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The pipeline spread of the Rubiales Oil Pipeline, Columbia.

TG S f ac ili t ies in the N euqu n B as i n, Ar gent ina.

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SOUTH AMERICASOUTH AMERICA

Techint completed the construction ofthe De la Costa Multiproducts Pipelinefor Empresa Estatal de Transporte yComercializacion del Ecuador Petrocomercial in 1992.

The project involved the construction ofdifferent sections: Libertad Peascuales,128 km of 10 inch diameter; SantoDomingo Quevedo Pecuales, 275 km of 10 inch diameter; and, Libertad Manta, 170km of 6 inch diameter.

In 2003, Techint completed constructionof the OCP Heavy Crude Oil Pipeline forOleoducto de Crudos Pesados Ecuador SA.The 503 km pipeline of 24, 32 and 34 inchdiameter runs from the oil elds of Lao Agrioto the Balao Terminal, near Exmeraldes port,

on the Pacic Ocean Coast, mostly parallel tothe route of the SOTE Pipeline.

PeruThe Camisea Gas Project consists of an

approximately $US600 million natural gaseld development, an approximately $US800million natural gas and liquids pipeline andan approximately $US50 million natural gasdistribution network in Lima and Callao.

The project extracts natural gasoriginating near the Urubamba River inCentral Peru.

The main pipeline begins at the CamiseaGas Field, traverses through the AndesMountains, and ends near San Martin, theport of Pisco. A second pipeline runs fromnear Pisco, north along the coast to Lima fordistribution to residents and industries inthe capital city.

The Camisea project became operational inAugust 2004.

In April 2007, Suez Energy and Kuntur GasTransport unveiled rival proposals for pipelinesto carry Camisea gas to southern Peru.

Suez Energy has proposed the 2228 inch

diameter, 834 km GasSur Pipeline , downthe Pacic coast of Peru to Ilo. First gasthrough the pipeline is expected in 2011.

Kuntur Transportadora de Gas hasplanned the 1,086 km South AndeanPipeline which would run from the Camiseaelds to Moquegua and Puno.

The pipeline will begin at the Camiseaeld and extend to the city of Juliaca on theborder with Bolivia. It will also connect withthe Pacic coastal cities of Matarani and Ilo.Offtake points for transportation systems andfor distributing natural gas via a network oflocal pipelines to the cities of Quillabamba,Cuzco, Puno, Arequipa, Moquegua andTacna will also be built.

The Peru LNG Project will use gas

from the Camisea deposit as feedstock for a$US3.9 billion liquefaction plant. Liqueedgas will be sold to Repsol ComercializadoraSA for export primarily to Mexico.

The project involves the constructionof a 414 km, 34 i nch diameter pipeline totransport gas from Chinquintirca to theplanned LNG plant at Pampa Melchorita.Techint has constructed the pipeline andthe entire project is expected to becomeoperational by the end of this year.

VenezuelaVenezuela exports large amounts of oil

and has an established oil pipeline systemproviding transportation from productioncentres to coastal export terminals, howeverit currently does not have any oil exportpipelines.

Venezuela also has large reserves of gas,mostly established through the explorationand production of oil reserves. The countrysgas reserves stood at approximately4.8 trillion cubic feet at the start of 2009.This has led to much natural gas pipelineconstruction in recent years.

In March 2004, PDVSA awarded threecontracts to domestic companies forconstruction of the Central OccidentalInterconnection (ICO) Pipeline . The402 km ICO was constructed to connectVenezuelas natural gas transport systems inthe central and western parts of the country,supplying natural gas to western Venezuelafor re-injection into oil elds.

The pipeline connects natural gas eldsin Falcon state to the Paraguana reningcomplex. The second stage of the pipelineconnected the 237 km, 16 inch diameter Ule Amuay Pipeline with the 1,488 km Anaco Barquisimeto Pipeline.

The Trans-Caribbean Gas Pipeline(also known as the Trans-Oceanic Gas

Pipeline) began transporting gas betweenVenezuela and Colombia in 2008. Thepipeline runs approximately 225 km betweenPuerto de Ballena, Colombia, to the eastcoast of Lake Maracaibo in Venezuela.

During the rst four years, the pipelinewill transport gas from Colombia toVenuezela and will be used for injection intooil reservoirs to boost oil production. Later,the pipeline is to be reversed and run fromVenezuela to Colombia.

In 2007, Colombia, Ecuador andVenezuela began talks on creating a Trans-Andean Natural Gas Pipeline to connect thethree nations, with Venezuela to be the mainsupplier to Ecuador.

Petrleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), throughits branch PDVSA GAS, is building the rststage of the 472 km Northeastern GasSystem Project (SINORGAS) .

This project will supply natural gasto industrial, commercial, and residentialsectors in the Barbacoa, Cuman, Giria,

Cariaco, Isla de Margarita regions in thenortheast of the country.

The Southern Gas Pipeline proposalinvolves an 8,000 km pipeline to carry gasfrom northern Venezuela to Argentina, withbranches in Bolivia, Uruguay and Paraguay.The pipeline is expected to take between veand seven years to construct.

The rst phase of the pipeline will run5,000 km from the gas elds of MarsicalSucre in northeast Venezeulas to Porto deSauipe, Brazil, and will have a capacity of50 MMcm/d of gas. From here the secondphase will connect Argentina, Bolivia,Paraguay and Uruguay.

Venezuela and Brazil signed anagreement to develop the pipeline in 2007.

Based in Rio de Janeiro, Petrobras isa leader in the Brazilian oil sector,and the largest corporation in Brazil.The company specialises in the exploration,production, processing and distribution ofoil, gas and energy, and is active in27 countries.

Through its subsidiary Transpetro,Petrobras operates a pipeline network ofover 11,000 km, including oil, product andgas pipelines, which interconnect Brazilianregions and supply the most remote parts ofthe country. The pipeline network links in toreceiving and processing terminals as well asa 53-strong oil tanker eet and Petrobrashas plans to expand. A program is underway

for a further 49 tankers.

OperationsPetrobras and Transpetro operate more

than 4,500 km of gas pipelines with a totaltransport capacity of 77 million cubic metresper day (MMcm/d). Petrobras said that theuse of natural gas is a recent developmentin Brazil. The market for natural gas gainedmomentum with the start-up of the Bolivia Brazil Pipeline. Since then, the gas pipelinenetwork continues to grow steadily.

Petrobas is the main partner of TBG,Transportadora Brasileira GasoductoBolivia-Brasil S.A., which owns and operatesthe Brazilian portion of the Bolivia BrazilPipeline. Approximately 2,593 km of the

pipeline is located in Brazil which operatesat a 30 MMcm/d capacity.

A Petrobras spokesperson said Beforethe [Bolivia Brazil Pipeline] only modest volumes of gas were carried to supplyPetrobras-owned operations and a fewpioneer industries. But the gas pipelinenetwork since then has grown and iscontinuing to do so much faster than the oiland product pipelines.

The companies other 7,000 km ofpipelines transport 670 MMcm/a of oil andproducts. Multi-product pipelines, alsocarrying ethanol, have been in operation for30 years.

In addition, Petrobras subsidiaryPetrobras E&P operates offshore productionpipelines which include approximately4,000 km of rigid and 5,000 km of exiblepipelines.

Transpetro has created the NationalCentre for Pipeline Repair (CREDUTO), whichspecialises in the repair and maintenanceof the companys pipelines. CREDUTO alsofunctions as a research and training centre,and develops new solutions. Transpetrospipeline operators undertake approximatelytwo years of extensive training, through theCorporate University and the company itself.

Pipeline past and presentwith PetrobrasBrazilian oil and gas company Petrobras has been constructing and operating pipelines across SouthAmerica since 1953. Here, the company explains its current and future plans for the Brazilian pipelineindustry.

CONTINUED ON PAGE24

Pipelaying activities at Lake Acara Vala.

Petrobras operations.


Construction activities at the Rubiales Oil Pipeline, Columbia.

The O C P H ea vy Cr ud e O il P ipel i ne , E cuad or.

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TTransportadora de Gas del Sur(TGS) has become one of the largestgas transportation companies inArgentina and operates the longest pipelinein Latin America the General San MartnGas Pipeline. The company distributesapproximately 62 per cent of the gasconsumed in Argentina and transports gasdirectly to distribution companies, electricalpower plants and industries. The pipelinesystem is 8,611 km long, of which TGS owns7,572 km, through seven Argentine provinceswith 608,900 HP of compression power.

The company produces and sells naturalgas liquids (NGL) in both the local and exportmarkets from its Cerri gas plant, located inBaha Blanca province, Buenos Aires.

TGS is hoping to expand its activities tothe regional markets in South America, andis moving into midstream operations andmaintenance projects in order to capitaliseon its expertise in the different stages of thenatural gas chain.

In late 2001, TGS obtained the re-certication of its environmental systemunder ISO 14001 standards, as well as thecertication of its quality management

system under ISO 9001 standards. TGSobtained an occupational health and safetyOHSAS 18,001 standards certication in 2006.

NGL production andcommercialisation

Natural gas is transported via TGSmain pipelines General San Martn,Neuba I and Neuba II for processing andcommercialisation. NGLs such as ethane,propane, butane and natural gasoline areseparated from gas at the Cerri complex.

TGS has expanded on its expertisethrough offering a series of midstreamservices, which include operations andmaintenance, treatment, conditioning,and compression of natural gas assets.The company provides natural gas and oilproducers with integral solutions from thewellhead to the transportation systems.

TGS performanceTGS has recently made signicant

achievements in several areas of the gastransportation business.

The company completed the rst stageof its 200609 pipeline expansion works,

which were carried out and nanced withinthe Gas Trust Fund Program. The expansionhas allowed the company to increasetransportation capacity by 2.2 million cubicmetres per day. TGS is now in charge ofthe operation and maintenance of the newfacilities.

The company is working withcommunities in the vicinity of its operations,assisting them through various programs.

TGS into the futureTGS said it has begun to review its

natural gas transportation service tariffs,executing provisional agreements foran increase in tariffs. The company willcontinue managing its expansion worksand will also assess further expansionopportunities agreed directly with customersunder prepayment schemes.

During 2009, TGS conducting theexpansion of the Strait of Magellan section ofits General San Martn Pipeline.

TGS plans to focus on monitoring itsNGL processing and commercialisation salesmargins.

Since the privatisation of the state-owned Gas del Estado transformed the Argentineenergy sector in 1992, Transportadora de Gas del Sur has proven to be a major player indomestic and international gas markets.

TGS set to expand

A TGS employee inspecting facilities in the Neuqun Basin.


The training includes classroom, eld andcontrol centre placements, and thoroughtraining at a state-of-the-art simulator.

The Petrobras Research Centre, whichaims to develop customised technologicalsolutions for Petrobras Group companies,also manages the Transportation TechnologyProgram. The Program has executed almost60 projects in areas such as corrosionand integrity management, inspection,leak detection, and pipeline design andconstruction.

Pipeline innovationsThe biggest innovation in pipeline

technology for Petrobras has been theautomation of monitoring and operation atTranspetros control centre (CNCO) in Riode Janeiro, which is one of the largest fueltransport monitoring and operation centresin the world. The CNCO operates through

a SCADA system which allows highlytrained and certied operators to controlthe companys pipelines and compressionstations in real time.

The companys Pipeline IntegrityProgram has also had a major impact onthe efficiency and reliability of the network.The program was launched in 2002 andtargets the environmental management andoperational safety of pipelines owned byPetrobras and Transpetro.

Current projectsPetrobras main focus at the moment is

the 660 km Urucu Manaus Gas Pipeline.Its route traverses the heart of the Amazonjungle, beginning in the oil and gas basin ofUrucu and extending to the city of Manaus.The pipeline is currently under constructiondespite inherent difficulties involved withworking through the jungle, and with utmostconcern to minimise environmental impact.Initially its capacity will be 5 MMcm/d of gas.

Innovative logistical and pipelayingsolutions were required to meet thechallenges of construction and futureoperation of a pipeline in a region that isooded for six months of the year. Petrobrassaid that lessons learned as a result ofthe challenges the company faced will beinvaluable for future projects with similarcharacteristics.

The Urucu Manaus Gas Pipeline isexpected to become operational by the endof 2009.

Further expansionsPetrobras has expansion plans for its

transmission pipeline network. By 2013, thecompany aims to have constructed 2,400 kmof new gas pipelines and approximately1,000 km of new oil and products pipelines.In addition, Petrobras has interests in some

2,000 km of dedicated ethanol pipelinescurrently under feasibility study in Brazil.The company is excited about an

increase its crude oil production levels,which Petrobras anticipates will require asubstantial expansion in the oil pipelinenetwork. Petrobras also predicts a growthin the natural gas market and economicdevelopment, both factors that will driveexpansion in its oil, gas and productspipeline networks.

SOUTH AMERICA


Petrobras operates a pipeline network of over11,000 km, including oil, product and gas pipelines.


SOUTH AMERICA

T he G ASDU C III Pipeline Cons truct ion .

Petrobras owns and operates two oating LNG regasication units with a combinedcapacity of 27 MMcm/d. This technology is new to South America, and Brazil has beena pioneer in the use of offshore vessels to store and regasify LNG instead of usingconventional onshore facilities.

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Pipelines are being laid over longerdistances in remote areas affectedby geohazards, harsh environmentalconditions and possible third partyintrusion. Deep water owlines and Arcticpipelines have introduced new challenges interms of pipeline integrity management asthe assets are submitted to seabed erosion,migrating bedforms, and permafrost thawsettlement.

Pipeline monitoring has often beenrestricted to visual inspection andmass/volume balance measurements. As aresult, pipeline failures are usually noticedwhen either the output ow is affected orthe surrounding environment is severelyaffected. It is widely recognised thatpipeline failures have huge operation costs,environmental and image impacts forcingthe oil and gas industry to look for newsensing techniques to perform permanentand real-time integrity monitoring.

Switzerland-based Omnisens hasdeveloped DITEST bre optic-basedmonitoring systems to be used to monitoronshore and offshore pipelines. The systemshave been implemented over the last veyears, showing good pipeline integritymonitoring performance.

Omnisens approach is to use standardtelecommunication grade optical bres assensors, and to deploy bre optic cablesalongside the pipeline in order to performa continuous uninterrupted monitoring.Once connected to an Omnisens DITESTmeasuring unit, the optical bres provideinformation about temperature and strainconditions with metre resolution along thepipeline. Fully distributed temperature andstrain proles are recorded at regular timeinterval of a few minutes over up to a100 km distance, without compromisingthe performance of the monitoring.

The occurrence and location of leakagesis determined by analysis of the temperatureproles, and the leak detection limits arewithin 0.01 percentile of the total throughputand even lower for pressurised gas; morethan two orders of magnitude better than

that of conventional mass/volume balancesystems.

At the same time, the bre optic strainprole is used to detect and locate groundmovement and pipeline strain, enabling theearly detection of increased stress due toexternal effects such as geohazards, groundmovements, permafrost thaw settlement oreven third party intrusion. Specic bre opticcables have been developed, demonstratingground movement sensitivity down to thecentimetre. Pipeline strain monitoring canalso be performed with sensitivities as lowas 20 micro-strains, provided that the cablesare bonded to the pipeline. A variety ofcables for either or both leakage and groundmovement detection is available and canbe selected with respect to different soilcharacteristics and pipeline installationprocedures.

Since the monitoring is external to thepipeline, the DITEST technique is applicableto any kind of pipeline and the monitoring

performance can be maintained despite owrate and operational changes. The combinedinformation about pipeline temperature andstructural conditions is transferred to SCADAsystems.

Subsea component integritymonitoring using bre opticsensing

The number of offshore productionfacilities continues to grow as the quest foroil extends into deeper water environments,

Real-time availability of comprehensive pipeline integrity information aids pipeline operators in makingthe right executive decisions based on actual pipeline operational and structural conditions, instead ofrelying on assumptions.

Continuous integritymonitoring for pipelines

SOUTH AMERICA

Figure 1: A challenging pipeline project in the Andes beingequipped with Omnisens bre optic ground movement detection.

CONTINUED ON PAGE28

Omnise ns will be e xhibiting at the Rio Pipeline

Conference and E xhibition.

Visit Omnise ns at Stand C5.

Ima ge c our t esy o fS t ato il H yd r o.

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exposing subsea components and structuresto harsh operating conditions.

Components such as mooring ropes,submarine cables, umbilicals, risersand owlines have design limits set byfatigue accumulation, which may duringinstallation, commissioning or in operation be signicantly larger than anticipated,

reducing their lifetime and putting theoperations at risk. Moreover, subseacomponents are susceptible to corrosionand damages caused by dropped objects,extreme storms, shing gears, and contactsfrom vessels.

Periodic remotely operated vehicleinspections are used to assess theirstructural integrity conditions over the entirelength. However this method is expensiveand unreliable since visual inspection isonly capable to detect external anomaliesand the system is unable to detect internalstructural deterioration.

In recent years the need for effectivetools to manage the safety, environmentaland nancial risks associated with theoperation of offshore production facilitieshas been emphasised. To ensure thesafety and integrity of new and existingsubsea structures, non-destructive testingtechniques and improved permanentmonitoring solutions have been developed.Among these techniques, bre optic-basedmonitoring systems have been proveneffective to perform permanent and real-time

structural integrity monitoring.One of the advantages of the Omnisens

DITEST solution is that it is fully compatiblewith subsea bre optic components suchbre optic rotary joints and wet-mateconnectors. The monitoring performanceis not affected by optical losses, makingthe solution robust and reliable for long-term monitoring. Fibre optic instrumentedstructures provide the operators withinformation about abnormal operationalchanges, occurrence and location ofdamages, leak and excessive strain,generating alarms and status reportsregardless of changes in structural integrity.The complete information about structuralconditions is transferred to SCADA

systems and eventually helps operatorsmake executive decisions based on actualoperational and structural conditions.

Submarine cables, umbilicalsand risers

Submarine cables, umbilicals andrisers must withstand huge mechanical

stresses and strains during installationand operation, especially in ultra deepwater environment. Cable and umbilicalsystems have limited access for maintenanceafter the installation is completed. Tominimise the risk of costly recovery andrepair operations, permanent and real-timemonitoring enables the early detection ofproblems and allows the operator to takeadequate measures in a timely manner toavoid catastrophic failures.

Subsea processing requirements aswell as ultra deepsea production haveforced manufacturers to design umblicalsintegrating high voltage power elementsand a capability to withstand larger tensileloads. Today most umbilicals and submarinecables integrate multiple singlemode breoptics for telecommunication purposesand several spare bres (so-called darkbres) can be made available for real-timetemperature monitoring. The benet of thetemperature monitoring is the ability to pinpoint any hot spot associated to abnormaloperation. Examples include overloadingof the integrated power lines, cable damage

leading to risk of short circuit, and theoverheating of cables due to multiple cablesat buoyancy location.

In umbilicals integrating owlines,temperature monitoring allows the earlydetection of hydrates and wax f ormation.Optimised dosage of hydrates can thenbe used to prevent complete blockage ofowlines saving large running costs andprotecting the structure from the risks ofbuckling. The monitoring technique isapplicable to exible risers in which opticalbres in a metal tube integrated directlyin the armoring can contribute to efficientow assurance via a real-time temperaturemonitoring. These strain sensors connectedto an Omnisens DITEST monitoring

system can provide complete and accuratestructural strain over several kilometres,pinpointing the strain to within metreresolution.

The availability in real-time of thelocal strain information at every locationalong the structure, from the date of theinstallation, allows the computation ofactual fatigue accumulation. It also enablesthe detection of any motion (due to vesselexcursion, weather conditions) resulting instresses that may exceed the design limitsand to evaluate their impact on the lifetimeexpectancy.

Offshore pipelines and owlinesThe challenges associated with the

design and the operation of subsea

pipelines or owlines varies dependingon the pipeline type and route. The failurerisks are in most cases associated to: themodication of the pipeline environment,seabed topology, as well as pipelinecrossing, and dropped objects (such as shipanchors or shing gears). A modicationof the pipelines direct surrounding due toseabed erosion or seabed migration can leadto additional cooling of the exposed pipelinesection and possible hydrates and waxplugging. The extent of the hydrate or waxformation problem increases with pipelinelength through the effects of cooling andthe challenge is signicantly greater whenassuring ows in deep water and remotesubsea locations, emphasising the need ofpipeline permanent monitoring.

Additionally, subsea migrating bedformssubject the pipeline to large strain, andeventually the risk of pipeline upheavalbuckling. Events can be detected basedon the differential temperature between apipeline and its environment. A standardsubsea breoptic cable laid along thepipeline has proven effective to provide an

early warning of such events before theydevelop into catastrophic pipeline failures.Examples include erosion monitoring ofshallow water, shore crossing and offshoreburied pipeline sections. Being able tomonitor seabed erosion helps identify andremediate erosion conditions similar to thosethat may have contributed to shallow water orriver crossing pipeline failures. If necessary,the bre optic temperature monitoring systemcan be combined with bre optic strainmeasurements in order to map in real-timebedform migration and to detect and localisepipeline strain. In addition, temperature-based bre optic can be used to detect andlocalise pipeline leaks through the associatedtemperature change.

SOUTH AMERICA

Omnisens pipeline integrity monitoring includescapabilities to detect and locate pipeline disturbance suchas third party intrusion, leakages or geohazards to withinone metre resolution over 100s of kilometres.


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Pipelines International s sister publication The Journal of Pipeline Engineering (JPE) publishes anumber of technical papers on a wide variety of topics. Editor-in-Chief John Tiratsoo outlines articlesfrom the current edition, which focuses on a range of topics from bamboo pipelines in ancient Chinato horizontal directional drilling today, as well as the legal issues in evaluating pipeline systems, withparticular reference to the United States.

Integrity forecasting and

TECHNICALTECHNICAL

bamboo pipelines

To subscribe to The Journal of Pipeline Engineering visit www.j-pipe-eng.com

HDD risk mitigation:the Netherlands

The trenchless technique for horizontaldirectional drilling: soil-related risksand risk mitigation, by Dr Henk Kruse,Geo-Engineering Unit, Deltares National Institute, Delft, Netherlands.

Horizontal directional drilling is adeservedly popular technique, and while themajority of the cables and pipelines installedin this way succeed, the process lackssufficient control of the risks arising fromsubsurface conditions. Consequently, a soil-related risk analysis for predicting unwantedevents during the drilling stages, or afterinstallation, is recommended. Identicationof the risks is the most important stage in

such a risk analysis, and requires sufficientknowledge of the processes during thedrilling stages. The author discusses themost often occurring of these soil-relatedrisks and their mitigation, which include:high pulling forces or i ncomplete pull-backcaused by local bore instability or frictionalforces in the bore, and seepage through thebore to the surface.

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PIPELINES INTERNATIONAL | SEPT EMBER 2009 3332 PIPELINES INTERNATIONAL | SEPTEMBER 2009

NORD STREAMNORD STREAM

The Nord Stream Pipeline will linkthe European Union (EU) to Russiassizeable gas reserves via the Russiangas network. The design, material and layingof roughly 1,220 km of offshore transmissionline represents major planning challenges.

Construction of the rst line isplanned to start at the beginning of 2010 andis due to commence operation in 2011. The55 billion cubic metres (Bcm) will beavailable on completion of the second linein 2012. With its own production in decline,Europe will need to import more natural gasin the coming decades. The Nord StreamPipeline will be able to supply approximatelyone quarter of the additional import volumesneeded in the future.

The project has been planned down

to the last detail. The careful selectionof materials is as important for the safeoperation of the system as the technicaldesign. Comprehensive research into theenvironment, risk assessment studies anddetailed surveys to determine the pipelinesoptimal routing on the sea bottom havepreceded its construction.

Nord Stream designThe design of the pipeline is based on

the principle of segmented wall thickness.The wall thickness of the 12 m pipe sectionsreduces in three stages following thedirection of the natural gas ow, in line withfalling gas pressure in the pipeline and theresulting reduction in load. The segmentedconstruction principle has already beenapplied to several North Sea pipelines(for example, the Langeled and Europipepipelines) and facilitates substantial savingson materials. Reducing the wall thickness by1 mm over the whole length of the pipelinesaves around 80,000 tonnes of steel.

The pipes for the Nord Stream Pipelinehave an internal diameter of 1,153 mm. Theyare manufactured from high-tensile steel(DNV Offshore Standard OS F101) and have amaximum wall thickness of 41 mm.

German company EUROPIPE willproduce approximately 75 per cent(860,000 tonnes) of the pipes for the rst ofthe two pipelines. OMK, a Russian specialistmill, will produce some 25 per cent (280,000tonnes).

Special X70 steel has been chosen as thematerial for the pipes. In several aspects, itproved to be the best solution. The offshoreindustry lacks adequate experience of usingX80 and thicker steels. X70 steel is widelyused along with X65 in the pipelineindustry, but it is more pressure resistantand thus better suited than X65 for use

in large-diameter, high-pressure lines.In addition, it has the advantage of wallthicknesses approximately eight per centsmaller than X65 steel. This saves not onlymaterial, but also time.

The thickness of the pipes determinesthe length of the individual pipe weldingprocess on board the pipelay vessel. Aweld of X70 steel can be completed in onlysix minutes. This provides the basis forcalculating the speed of pipelaying and thusthe length of the construction period. Addingjust one minute to the time taken to weld onedouble joint would add about one and a halfmonths to the entire pipelaying process.

In order to ensure that the pipeline canwithstand an internal pressure of up to220 bar when it is in operation, the pipe

joints are subject to a number of inspectionsand quality checks during their productionby the manufacturer, independent pipelinespecialists, and Nord Stream AG experts.

Ultrasonic tests, magnetic particle inspectionand X-ray examinations are undertakento check for material defects that are notexternally detectable. The steels strengthproperties are continuously tested duringpipe manufacture.

The internal walls of the Nord StreamPipeline are given an anti-friction coatingof epoxy resin. The external walls receivepassive anti-corrosion protection involvinga triple-layered coating sealed by apolyethylene coat with a minimum thicknessof 4.2 mm. In addition, the steel pipes aregiven a 60110 mm thick concrete coat thatincreases the weight of the pipeline andthus ensures its stability on the seabed.Sacricial aluminium and zinc anodesare applied to provide additional active

cathodic protection. These anodes protectthe pipes against rust in areas where passiveprotection is less than 100 per cent effective.

The Nord Stream Pipeline, to run from Vyborg in Russia to Lubmin in Germany, is viewed as one of themost significant current infrastructure projects in Europe. It will consist of two parallel lines, each with a

transport capacity of about 27.5 billion cubic metres of natural gas.

Nord Stream:piping through the Baltic SeaBy Dr Werner Rott, Deputy Technical Director, Nord Stream AG Via the stingerthe pipeline is lowered onto the seabed in the form of an S-sha ped curve.Up to 3 km a day can be laid.

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The next step is to weld two 12 mlengths into a 24 m double joint. Everyweld is subjected to ultrasonic testingso that even the smallest defect can bedetected and rectied before the doublejoint in the process line known as thering line is connected to the alreadycompleted section of the pipeline.

When the weld has been i nspectedand shown to be perfect, the entire areaof the unprotected joint linking the twopipe sections will be wrapped in a heated,corrosion-proof shrink sleeve. As the sleevecools, it will form a waterproof seal byshrinking and wrapping around the weldedjoint. Around that, a steel collar will be

applied and secured with steel belts. Then,polyurethane foam is poured into a mouldwhich serves to protect the shrink sleeveespecially during pipelaying.

The pipeline will be lowered to thebottom of the sea in the form of an S-shapedcurve. During this process, the pipeline willbe held in the right position for installationby a number of durable tensioners. Thetensioners control the movement of the lineand keep it under tension, so that it slides via an additional extension (known as astinger) over board the stern slowly ontothe sea bottom. Under normal conditions,up to 3 km a day of pipeline can be laidusing this procedure.

Commissioning and maintenanceWhen construction is complete, the

pipeline will be lled with water andsubjected to a minimum 24 hour pressuretest. For this, the water p

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