PRCI

Newsroom

January 17, 2012

Pipeline Industry R&D Summit Led by PRCI

In support of the current initiatives and high level of interest in the pipeline community on research and development (R&D) programs, PRCI hosted an R&D Summit in Houston, Texas on December 7 & 8, 2011. The R&D Summit was organized to establish consensus and unified agreement of the top priorities for pipeline R&D and developing a process by which the top priorities can be addressed in a more efficient and more collaborative manner by the industry stakeholders. The R&D Summit provided the forum needed to solicit input from industry experts with a diverse range of needs and interests, develop a framework to achieve better collaboration to meet the needs of the industry, and focus energy and resources on activities that have the greatest impact and benefit. Another objective of the R&D Summit was to bring together and align two separate initiatives of the liquids pipeline industry, AOPL/API Pipeline Safety Improvement Areas (or PSIAs) and INGAA Integrity Management Continuous Improvement (or IMCI), each of which has identified pipeline research as a core component to further improving pipeline safety and achieving the ultimate goal of zero incidents. The R&D Summit was an initial step to developing the pipeline industry R&D Roadmap, which is part of PRCI’s Strategic Plan.

The R&D Summit included two half-day sessions for the participants. Day 1 included several presentations followed by discussion on improving the current model for pipeline R&D. The presentations provided an overview of the current state of the pipeline industry R&D program and where the industry needs to be, including the future vision for pipeline R&D and an improvement to the existing processes and programs to promote a comprehensive and unified pipeline industry R&D Roadmap. Day 2 was dedicated to breakout sessions that provided an opportunity for industry subject matter experts to address the top priorities (as defined from the AOPL/API PSIAs and the INGAA IMCI), the gaps associated with each, and defining how to address the gaps. The outputs from the breakout sessions on Day 2 have provided the foundation for the initial development of the pipeline industry R&D Roadmaps, which are being drafted by PRCI and will be distributed for review by the industry organizations and stakeholders when completed.

The R&D Summit is the first in a series of meetings and workshops that PRCI is sponsoring to work toward the development of the pipeline industry unified R&D Roadmap. The initial meeting in Houston focused on integrity management R&D programs for onshore transmission pipelines. PRCI plans to organize separate meetings to solicit greater input from distribution pipeline operators/organizations, Facility Integrity Management, and offshore and subsea pipelines, with facility integrity and subsea pipelines being established R&D programs within PRCI. The next session to promote and advance the R&D Roadmap will be in Phoenix, Arizona as part of the PRCI 2012 Research Exchange Meeting. In addition, PRCI will sponsor a meeting with European operators in conjunction with the May 2012 Pipeline Program Technical Committee Meeting, which is being held in Barcelona, Spain.

PRCI acknowledges the participation and support of the American Petroleum Institute (API), the Association of Oil Pipelines (AOPL), the Australian Pipeline Industry Association (APIA), the Canadian Energy Pipeline Association (CEPA), and the European Pipeline Research Group (EPRG), and the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America (INGAA), each of which attended the R&D Summit and contributed substantially to the successful outcome of the Summit.

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