Ageing Oil and Gas Assets

The ever-increasing numbers of oil and gas assets globally, whether in the onshore or offshore environment pose problems in terms of their enduring structural integrity particularly those ageing assets – time dependent, independent and other mechanisms provide the input to structural deterioration over time.

Asset failure may result in serious safety, environmental and business consequences once loss of containment has occurred; where catastrophic failures occurs, the consequences of failure have a far and wide reaching impact as has been evidenced in recent incidents.

Integrity Management is an applied process using risk management methods and processes through which the risk of asset failure are minimised and subsequently controlled and managed using industry proven mitigation measures. Devising and implementing Integrity Management programmes provides a dynamic and optimised approach to ensuring that asset  integrity is achieved and maintained over the life of the asset. 

Further, the combination of health and safety management systems, integrity management programmes and risk and reliability tools and techniques is an optimum combination of systems and programmes able to provide safe and reliable operating assets – the right choice to preserve and maintain Operator reputation.         

Understanding the condition of critical operational oil and gas assets is the key to improve the planning of asset inspection and maintenance activities by identifying key activities in advance to allow the appropriate budgets to be implemented and reduce the amount of spending associated with unplanned activities. Through consistent monitoring, the likelihood of an unplanned failure / shutdown can be prevented.  

In addition, many Operators are now demanding extensions to asset life in order to promote additional hydrocarbon production and transport. Undertaking life extension studies requires a wide range of knowledge from structural design, materials and materials rates of degradation, corrosion mechanisms, structural fatigue, environmental loadings, installation and operational requirements and demands, inspection, maintenance and repair methodologies etc.

Similarly, Operators will require to implement decommissioning and abandonment programmes based on both technical and commercial asset appraisals.