Offshore Pipelines—Elements of Managing Risk

Abstract

Abstract Offshore pipelines are critical elements of the subsea transportation system for the transportation and delivery of carbon products from the resource sites to end users and markets. The design, construction, and operation of offshore pipelines require elements of risk management to mitigate potential adverse effects from the perspective of technical, business, environmental, and societal factors. The need, scope, requirements, and complexity of risk management have evolved over time in concert with the pipeline industry meeting the challenges for extending application into deepwater environments and ice regimes, and capabilities to achieve more extreme operating conditions (e.g., internal pressure, temperature, and aggressive fluids) and envelopes (e.g., transient, cool down, and restart conditions). To provide context, this chapter briefly explores the history of offshore pipeline engineering and the increasingly important relationship with asset management and risk management principles as the subsea pipeline infrastructure has steadily increased both in capacity and capabilities. The critical importance of supporting evidence-based, decision-making processes by integrating risk management protocols within complex projects, as well as the adverse effects when these factors are not adequately considered, is discussed. The chapter explores the framework elements including project management risk, technical risk in pipeline engineering design with some discussion on the consideration of climate change effects, and operational risk with respect to inspection, monitoring, and integrity assessment and management. The chapter concludes on some thoughts on reducing risk by improving safety culture.