Subsea Pipelines Integrity Management – ZADCO Approach

Abstract Zakum Development Company, a major Oil and Gas company in the UAE, operates three offshore oil fields which are located at 65, 20 and 80 kms northwest of Abu Dhabi and are in shallow water with depth ranging from 6 m to 30 m. ZADCO operates a large portfolio of subsea pipelines. Most of these pipelines have been in service for more than 30 years and corrosion is a major threat to the integrity of these lines. More over the increase in water cut, the decrease in the flow rate for some lines and crude composition changes mainly increase in H2S and CO2 levels are added challenges. To mitigate these challenges, ZADCO has in place a series of barriers which include corrosion controls like chemical injection (corrosion inhibitors, biocides), maintenance pigging, etc. Also ZADCO implements several corrosion monitoring activities like corrosion rate monitoring, intelligent pigging of the pipelines, verification of the In line Inspection results using Automated Ultrasonic inspection (Auto-UT) as well as fitness for service and remnant life assessment prior to repair and rehabilitation. This paper presents ZADCO approach to manage the integrity of its subsea lines network and covers: –ZADCO Asset integrity management policy–Asset integrity Management System (AIMS)–Pipeline Integrity Management System Requirement (PIMS)–Intelligent Pigging–Corrosion Mapping (Auto Ultrasonic Verification)–Fitness for Service and Remnant life Assessment–Repair and rehabilitation plans–Concluding remarks