Supply sentinels

Covering vast distances, which can reach tens, hundreds or even thousands of kilometres, and skimming or diving across varying landscapes, pipelines have been and still are extremely exposed to attacks, from a diverse range of groups with a variety of motives.

Of course, It does not require an expect to tell you that the threat of terrorism is very real in the Middle East, but this is just one area of concern for the security specialists.

There is also the threat of vandalism, theft and attacks from local communities affected or who feel disenchanted by the development of a pipeline.

The first port of call for the energy companies and governments looking to protect their oil and gas pipelines is the use of specialist security consultants, who will assess the risk posed in that specific circumstance, and in turn come up with the best – according to their calculations – solution.

“When we conduct a pipeline security project, we start with the regionally specific threat assessment: who might pose a threat, what sort of threat it is, and how this fits into other problems in the area,” says Tony McClenaghan, senior consultant, security practice, Control Risks.

“Having done this, we then would go and conduct a security review at the construction phase and/or the operation phase, which would enable us to develop a risk assessment.”

Control Risks is as an independent specialist risk consultancy firm, with 27 offices worldwide, with two servicing the Middle East in Dubai, UAE, and Baghdad, Iraq. It provides risk assessment in a variety of industries for both companies and governments.

“Although not necessarily in the Middle East, we are seeing an increase in the attacks on pipelines from militant or terrorist groups, but also from local community groups. Depending on who it is and the nature of the attack, you can work out the damage that is likely to be caused,” says McClenaghan.

“For instance in a militant or terrorist attack using explosives, the devastation is likely to be significant. A recent example was a company who had to close down block valve stations after an explosion in order to stop the flow of oil, and to let the rest just burn out. Unfortunately, they could not put out the fire and temperatures got so high critical equipment actually melted.”

On the other hand, illegal tapping of the pipeline could be done using simple tools, causing very little damage and being easily repairable – although if not caught quickly the company could stand to lose significant amounts of product.

However, McClenaghan states that this does not appear to be an issue in the Middle East at present.

New frontiers

“The commodities boom and the supply shortage of new resources has driven a lot of companies into jurisdictions they never would have considered before. A large proportion of oil and gas commodities are generally found in difficult jurisdictions,” says Michael Ashworth, CEO, Ardan Consulting.

Ardan Consulting is a small firm based in Dubai which specialises in risk consultation for the oil and gas and mining sectors, focusing on the East Africa and Middle East regions.

“I would say that threats are realest probably in Yemen and in Iraq, but what is very difficult to predict is terrorism. Is there a threat in the UAE? Or other stable countries like Saudi Arabia? It is hard to put your finger on it – but because of the consequence of an attack then that is why large amounts are invested,” explains Ashworth.

“And I think that when you start from a perception of high risk, as the market starts stabilising the transition is away from high risk security to commercial security and HSE. That’s the progression we are seeing in Kurdistan where the perception of risk has gone down and now the H&S impact is more important, as is setting the standards for commercial security.”

Local touch

Almost the first consideration when the pipeline runs near or through a community is how the pipeline will be received by the indigenous people. Gone are the days when companies just threaded pipelines through people’s land with scant disregard, particularly in frontier areas where such infrastructure may be viewed with fear or suspicion.

“The way you enter the market is very much dependant on how that market was set up: politically, socially, culturally and tribally. We do a lot of work in areas that we don’t have much knowledge of, so spending a lot of time in the field prior to market entry and focusing on community relations is very important, and something we believe we do better than the industry average,” says Ashworth.

“Security is as much as building a relationship with the community and community related projects as is it is about building walls and fences,” he adds.

His thoughts are echoed by McClenaghan, who believes understanding the local situation and involving the community is key to the mitigation strategy.
 

He explains that local communities will have expectations of what they should receive in return for allowing the company access to their land, which can be unrealistic, but with which care should be given.

“The community will have expectations, even if these only amount to contributing to any guard force or reaction force. They will expect something, and how companies interact with communities is a key part to any security plan and something we certainly put a lot of effort into exploring with clients,” says McClenaghan.

“A lot of companies have community liaison or good governance sections. Understanding the community and their attitude to oil and gas exploration and pipelines that may run through their land, and then understanding their expectations and managing those expectations is vital – but security clearly has a role to play.”

When asked if the companies should be taking more responsibility and investing more money in this area, Ashworth is quick to state that it is not simply a case of spending more money, but of getting the balance right between the community and security.

“I think that getting the community element right it is intrinsic to security, and often people separate the two which I think is a mistake. What we strive to do in our approach to security management is to include as a core component making sure that the community programmes, initiatives and incentives are aligned and incorporated in the modern security package,” says Ashworth.

 

Sensing danger

As building a twenty foot wall along a 500km pipeline is not a feasible solution, all security programmes for pipelines require some sort of early detection system for when an attack is about to take place, in order to respond in a swift an efficient manner.

The challenge posed to this are the lengths involved, the terrain, extreme weather and the accessibility to the pipe in question.

Modern technologies are often called upon to offer a more viable solution, for example by using a fibre optic cable running up the pipeline you can deploy detection or sensory devices which would collect, collate and send information back to a security control centre.

“By using fibre technologies you can detect a footfall or traffic near the pipeline, or even digging if the pipe is buried, but it is not always completely reliable. That then needs to be monitored from a central location with people who know what they are looking at and can communicate with the pipeline operation itself and cut or slow the flow while it is investigated,” says McClenaghan.

One company that specialises in these systems is Future Fibre Technologies (FFT) who deploys an advanced fibre optic based pipeline protection system, Secure Pipe, which can detect and pinpoint the location of digging activities near pipelines in real time, before the pipeline is damaged.

“The Secure Pipe system has been successfully deployed on many oil and gas pipelines around the world, protecting thousands of kilometers since its launch in 2002. The latest application has been for protecting high pressure gas pipelines for Gaz de France and Fluxys in Europe recently to meet the new EU safety requirements,” says Alec Owen, international client manager, Future Fibre Technologies (FFT).

FFT has also developed another product, Secure Fence, which uses digital signal processing technology to overcome the problems of nuisance alarms. Although it would be too costly for pipelines covering long distances, its use for shorter pipelines is possible.

“The technology uses signature recognition and advanced learning algorithms to “know” the difference between a branch blowing against a fence in a storm and an attempted intrusion. The fact that the system does not require any power or electronics to be installed on the fence line at all makes it ideally suited to the oil and gas industry,” he says.
 

Another potential detection technology to be considered by pipeline operators is the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), also known as drones. These would fly continuously up and down the pipeline sending a signal back via a satellite to the security control centre.

“UAVs are very expensive, but on the other hand they can fly day and night and our much lower cost than flying a helicopter or fixed wing aircraft. Frankly the operator needs to decide whether it has to go to this sort of length, but if there is no effective communications and a reliable local security provider, then they are an option,” says McClenaghan.

Man power

The cheapest option when it comes to securing a pipeline is still the use of man power. Having security guards patrolling the pipeline is the option many still adopt in the Middle East, and even when sophisticated gadgetry is used, a manned control centre and response team is required to act in the appropriate fashion.

Track 24 is global provider of tracking and crisis management solutions. Essentially the company provides a set of solutions, which includes a range of technological devices, which empowers the operators security staff to be able to detect and respond to any breaches in the most prompt and efficient manner possible.

“The essence of what we provide is risk management mainly focusing on personnel using various technologies. So knowing where people and vehicles are and providing them with an emergency alert system, all of which you can view on a secure internet based operating picture,” says Tim Grant, director, Track 24.

 

“Pipelines are very difficult to protect as they are long linear features. Manpower tends to be the cheapest option for protecting pipelines in these parts of the world, and what we aim to do is make the personnel more effective. So, by having a piece of satellite equipment at a relatively low cost we can assist them in early detection and response.”

The system works by utilising equipment, like Track 24’s Packmaster, which enables the member of staff to press a single button which then triggers an alert to the control centre, who would then be able to see who it is and what they can see.

This cuts the time scales involved and gives more accuracy in providing an effective response team.

“You can use very expensive sensor technologies; however a lot of the companies and governments in the Middle East still use humans. Communication of course is difficult if you are 200km from civilization, but with a low cost piece of satellite equipment they just need to press a single button and instantly the control centre can vector a response force,” explains Grant.

Track 24 have also just released their latest piece of technology called Nomad, a radio based system incorporating the emergency response feature, which enables the control centre to keep track of the security guards location.

“The question is: how do you help make security programmes effective? I hope what we can offer is to provide the tools to oil companies and that it is something they will welcome as it helps them with their task,” concludes Grant.

Rapid response

Clearly during or after an attack on a pipeline, the most expeditious response is needed, either to bring to halt the attack or to limit the amount of devastation caused.

Due to the costs involved in the prevention of attacks, sometimes focus shifts to a more effective response team.

However, it is a fine balance between the two. “We like looking at the problem strategically, and the following have to be considered: how much you want to spend in your on your risk management plan, what percentage is going to spent on preventing an attack and what is going to spent on recovering from an attack,” says Ashworth.

“It is a fine line and the proportion is very much dictated by where you are. For example, if you are in the jungles of Colombia then trying to put a pipeline protection solution is very difficult due to the terrain. So there the emphasis is on having the best possible recovery response.”

 

Clearly for a company looking to protect its assets, the most cost effective solution will be the most attractive. However, if the government is involved then there is also the issue of reputation at stake. In this circumstance, often more emphasis and investment will be placed on prevention in order to quell attacks.

“Response is critically important, but prevention and response go hand in hand. Ideally people would like to operate pipelines without any incidents at all. They may involve some high end expenditure on detection capability, but that is only a value if you have a response capability that can act quickly and properly to any disturbances on the pipeline,” says McClenaghan.

“But the response capability to deal with an incident is equally important; not so much from the security aspect but from the company’s reputation point of view, and in dealing with oil spills and the risk of fire near the communities – we have seen tragic pictures around the world where locals burnt by pipeline explosions.”

Balancing act

When you consider the interests of the company and its shareholders, the local community and the national government’s reputation, then you can understand that it is a difficult equation to balance correctly.

It is here that consultation firms such as Control Risks and Ardan Consulting must earn their crust. The threat of an attack on a pipeline is very real, so getting the security plan right is an absolute must, for all concerned.