Petroleum Development Oman ( PDO ), the nation’s major producer of oil and gas, will spend $500mn on the modernisation of its surface pipelines.
The investment is part of the company’s Spill Prevention Strategy– a multiyear programme calling for the replacement of ageing pipeline and flowline infrastructure with more durable and largely leak-proof pipes.
“….we are currently engaged in an extensive asset integrity ‘No Leak’ programme to replace old flowlines… in both the north and south of our concession area,” said Raoul Restucci, managing director of PDO, in the company’s annual Sustainability Report.
The 20,000 km-long network of pipelines and flowlines will see pinhole leaks, spills and seepages being targeted as part of the strategy.
In the first half of 2014 the leaks caused 290 tonnes of lost crude from the company’s distribution, according to PDO .
“To address this issue, PDO has implemented a ‘No Leak’ spill prevention strategy which involves an extensive replacement of our pipelines. We have also established or sponsored a number of local community companies to accelerate the rate of replacement for our ageing flowline infrastructure,” Restucci stated.
The company has allocated a budget of $68mn a year towards the replacement of bare carbon flowlines- a significant increase compared to the current $15mn.
A total of $338 million is earmarked to be spent by 2018. Investment in flowline replacement has jumped from $15mn annually to $35mn.
The total spend on this initiative is estimated at $160 million by the time it is completed in 2017.
” PDO is committed to protect the environment and prevent pollution from our operations. Annual expenditure to decrease our environmental risk has increased from $30 million to $100 million.
This has been further complemented by the commissioning of a major study to assess the environmental risk from our activities in the concession area with a particular focus on the vulnerability of shallow aquifer(s),” the company’s report stated.
