Pipeline construction in wintry weather

Pipeline construction going well despite concerns about jointing in wintry weather

Faced with the WorleyParsons report on what happened at the BTC pipeline site during the winter of 2003-04, experienced construction managers would probably see the situation as fairly typical of what can happen at the outset of a major project in which innovative technology is being applied at a key point in the construction sequence.

At first everything goes well but when things go wrong ? in this case jointing failures due to the fall in the ambient temperature - the cause of the trouble is investigated, and the sub-contractor gets most of the blame.

The upshot is that having been tried and tested at considerable expense in the field, a new step in construction technology is on the way to being established.

Michael Gillard in his SpinWatch commentary does not see it like that.

He claims that BP tried to cover up flawed operations in the Caspian that he alleges could lead to an environmental disaster.

"The investigation also reveals breaking news that the first bank consortium led by Italys largest bank, Banca Intesa, has pulled out over concerns about safety flaws and construction risk".

At the time this commentary was posted, Banca Intesa had not issued any statement about its intention to sell out of its $60 million stake in the BTC consortium, nor had it replied to an e-mailed request from CIOB International for confirmation of this report.

This may be, as Mr Gillard has suggested, because the bank has not yet completed the sale of its interest in the project.

"Behind closed doors", he alleges, "BP is at war with itself over the safety of the BTC pipeline.

A concerned group of managers and consultants in Baku fear that the pipeline has a major design flaw around the weld area, which if uncorrected could lead to rapid corrosion and ruptures".

If this is true, then the WorleyParsons desk top study commissioned by the BNP Paribas banking group failed to expose the true nature of the problem with the field jointing system applied in Azerbaijan and Georgia.

But the SpinWatch investigation accuses the oil giant of trying to spin its way out of the scandal with the help of international bankers, politicians and the mainstream media.

Doubts about use of polymer coatings The story goes that two of BPs senior engineers based at Baku were alarmed at what appeared to be a head office push for a liquid epoxy coating manufactured by the Canadian firm Specialty Polymer Coatings.

Their belief was that this firm had no track record on a plastic coated pipeline.

The two managers contacted the pipeline consultant Derek Mortimore for second opinion.

He was already advising BP on its offshore Azeri-Chirag-Guneshili field development.

Described by SpinWatch as a pugnacious and compact man, Mortimore has a reputation as one of a handful of world experts called upon when pipelines fail, a man who understands only too well that the most frequent cause of rupture is external corrosion, mostly down to the coating.

In short, he confirmed the fears of the BP managers at Baku that BTC was wrong about its proposal to use liquid epoxy coatings, on the grounds that they have very limited flexibility and adhesion when applied to plastic coated pipeline.

This of course runs counter to the findings of the WorleyParsons desktop report.

They were asked for their views on Mr Mortimores comments: they gave it as their understanding that as a friend of a BP employee, he had reviewed the projects field joint coating specification dated September 2002 as a favour.

"After he issued his comments, he asked to be paid for his effort.

Since a BP employee had asked Mr Mortimore to review the documents, BP issued Mr Mortimore a contract to cover the work he did".

According to the WorleyParsons account, Mr Mortimore argued that "probably the worst case condition for an epoxy is immediately downstream of early main pumping stations where the coating will be running hot, maybe up to 70 deg.

C in fully immersed state at different times of the year".

In response, BTC/BP said that the BTC pipeline would operate at 50 deg.

C, so this is not an issue.

The SCP [South Caucasus Pipeline] will run hotter for approximately 5 km downstream of the Sangachal terminal, where there is only one compressor.

This compressor, they explained, shuts in at 72 deg.

C and is expected to operate well below 70 deg.

C.

Mr Mortimore: "No pipeline owner has been identified who specifies this product, for this exact purpose, anywhere in the world.

It has limited use as field joint coating on FBE [fusion bonded epoxy] coated pipe in Canada but not on PE [polyethylene] coated pipe".

BTC/BP response: "If we adopted the same negative attitude to the selection of line pipe coatings we would still be applying coal tar and asphalt enamel to wire brushed steel surfaces rather than benefiting from the superior performance we get from FBE and three layer FBE-polyolefin coatings".

There was more to the dialogue but this extract is sufficient to give the tenor of the exchanges.

WorleyParsons took the view that Mr Mortimores comments were fairly general, with a lack of specific technical details or references.

"The comments he made concerning winter work" they said, "would also apply to all other available field joint coating materials, including heat shrink sleeves.

Several of his comments addressed non-technical issues, i.e contractual, costs, contractor capabilities, trade laws, insurance and contractor claims".

The SpinWatch story says that BPs construction consultant Jim Mooney from the Upstream Technology Group, and Kevin Muller, BPs Global Integrity Assurance Manager, also recognised (September 2002) that SPC 2888 was ?unproven on plastic-coated pipeline and marked ?a step change in present industry practice, both technically and commercially".

Latest report claims good progress That indeed appears to be what it has in fact become, a step change in industry practice.

As WorleyParsons said, there has been no cracking of the field joint coatings since implementation of the procedures approved by project management at the turn of the current year.

Should we wait until January-February 2005 to see whether this judgment has stood the test of the current wintry conditions in the Caucasus? By that time the BTC pipeline will be almost complete, but the new gas pipeline will be on its way alongside it through Azerbaijan and Georgia.

It will be interesting to learn what happens as the ambient temperatures once again drop below 10 deg.

C.

If nothing much happens apart from the field joints being successfully formed, that will surely be conclusive proof that the decision to use the FBE epoxy coating was correct.

This time the contractor and the project management are bound to be making every effort to ensure that the new technique succeeds.

As Michael Gillard says, SPC 2888 will be the sole coating used on the parallel pipeline that BP is building from the Shah Deniz gas field in the Caspian.

Whether as alleged this specification violates BPs own corrosion control and monitoring philosophy is a question that may remain to be tested in practice.

The latest news bulletin from BTC says that work is proceeding well despite heavy snowfall which began to affect construction in the western section of the pipeline route in Georgia and North East Turkey.

"The project made good progress in backfilling and burying pipeline on high ground and through the Kodiana section in Georgia".

Unless this is just another piece of spin, it sounds as though things are going quite well.

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