Corrosion Mitigation and Inspection Strategy for Pipeline Integrity Management: an Experience of Sarir Oilfield

Abstract The nature of petroleum industry recognizes the potential human, environmental and financial consequences that can result from failing to maintain the integrity of pipelines and other assets. The importance of effective pipeline integrity management increases as the industry infrastructure continues to age. The primary objective of pipeline integrity management (PIM) is to maintain pipeline in a fit-for-service condition while extending its remaining life in the most reliable, safe and cost effective manner. A successful pipeline integrity management program incorporates aspects of design, material selection, operations, maintenance, corrosion mitigation, monitoring and inspection, risk evaluation and communication concepts to maximize the return. All these concepts are interlinked. Sarir oilfield is the biggest oilfield in North Africa. It has large network of flowlines, trunklines and shipping lines in its oil and gas production facilities. This paper presents the experience of pipeline integrity management in oil and gas production facilities through corrosion mitigation, corrosion monitoring and inspection strategies used in Sarir field. External corrosion on pipelines is controlled with a combination of coatings and cathodic protection while internal corrosion is controlled with a combination of chemical inhibitors, periodic cleaning and process control. The monitoring and inspection techniques provide a way to measure the effectiveness of corrosion control systems and provide an early warning when changing conditions may be causing a corrosion problem. This paper describes integrity management system used in Sarir oilfield for its pipelines in oil and gas production facilities based on standard practices of corrosion mitigation and inspection.