Experts discuss trends in pipeline industry

Sunaina Rana / Emirates Business

The Middle East is home to around 56 per cent of the world’s oil reserves and 36 per cent of the world’s natural gas reserves, where the maintenance and utilization sector plays an integral segment in the development of the region.
Discussing pipeline design, and engineering and project challenges, key stakeholders of the Oil and Gas industry evaluated opportunities offered by new lucrative markets and emerging technologies at the Middle East Pipetech Conference held at Hotel Sofitel, Abu Dhabi on Tuesday.
Talal Al Sayed, Vice President (integrity), ADMA-OPCO, told Emirates Business, “The main objective of this conference is to discuss the utility of the existing facility, as the piping facility around the world has become an aged facility. Our aim is to increase the life of these pipelines and maintain our production.”
The two-day event was hosted by EandP in association with Abu Dhabi Marine Operating Company (ADMA-OPCO), Abu Dhabi Company for Onshore Oil Operations (ADCO), Zakum Development Company (ZADCO), Borouge Shell, Saudi ARAMCO and TAKREER.
Al Sayed said, “To carry out this objective we need increase the value of the production and manage risk. We can increase the value by implementing the latest technology to carry out the inspection and assessment of the pipelines, without affecting the productions, following which these techniques should be well monitored and accurate that would contribute towards risk management. Considering that the industry has aged facility, the risk factor is high which could lead to leakage or exposure. Therefore it makes it essential for the new technology to provide latest assessments and give assurance that will not impact the efficiency.”
The UAE is the world’s eighth largest oil producer, churning out an average production volume of 2.813 million barrels per day. The MiddleEast- Pipetech Conference served as a platform for companies to connect, network and engage in fruitful dialogue that addressed the growing needs of the oil and gas pipelines. The two-day conference will provide unparalleled networking opportunities as well as informative technical presentations, panel discussions and project updates on the latest trends and opportunities in oil and gas pipelines.
“Our prime focus lies in detecting the problem and repairing it immediately. We would be using different type of technology like MTM, ultrasonic, etc. for detection of high risk and implement the measures to avoid the danger for saving the production and reducing maintenance,” Al Sayed pointed out.