The Australian Pipeliner

January 2006

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President’s Message

Thank you to all members and the Board for the opportunity to serve as APIA’s President over the next two years. I am honoured to represent this dynamic industry and am committed to helping APIA build on its current strengths.

Chief Executive’s Report

My thanks and congratulations to the members of APIA on their enthusiasm for and support of this energetic industry. It is the support of the members that has the biggest impact on our Annual Convention and this year we had a record number of registrations (331) plus partners (99), a full social and business program and a spectacular group of exhibitors, also a record number (60).

Obituaries

Barry Jones and Jirra Moore

APIA 2005 Annual Convention Pipelines - Bridging our Energy Needs

The Australian Pipeline Industry Association Annual Convention is always a highlight of the year for pipeliners, and the conference is also gaining a reputation in the wider energy industry as a key event for discussing the latest developments in Australian pipelining as well as networking with the vast range of suppliers, contractors, owners and operators who contribute to the industry in Australia.

Convention 2005 - Business Program

Cheryl Cartwright, APIA Chief Executive

The 2005 APIA Convention and Exhibition broke a few records, with the most ever attendees - 430, of which 331 were delegates and 99 were partners - and the highest number of exhibitors, 60 in total.

Annual awards 2005

The APIA Convention is a fitting time of year for the Association to announce the recipients of its annual awards. This year, Jim McDonald and Tony Marletta were named Honorary Life Members, Garry O’Meally was recognised for his Outstanding Contribution to the Australian Pipeline Industry and Darren Stevenson and Ben Rees were named joint winners of the Young Achievement Award.

Trade Exhibition

As is always the case at APIA Conventions, the Trade Exhibition proved to be a highlight, both for the suppliers showing their equipment and services and the buyers keen to hear about the latest developments from the supply side of the industry.

In depth with Mark Harper

Following the recent election of Mark Harper into the role of APIA President, The Australian Pipeliner met with Mark to discuss his views on the industry. In this interview Mark talks about the role of regulators and puts emphasis on youth recruitment, research and development to aid future pipeline industry growth.

Queensland pipeline industry issues addressed

As part of the regular Technical Regulator - Pipeline Industry coordination sessions a meeting was held in Brisbane with the Department of Natural Resources and Mines in September 2005.

The complete solution: combined crack and metal loss detection tool

Samia Atif, Jürgen Bosch, Achim Hugger and Josef Franz -PII Pipeline Solutions Business, GE Oil & Gas

Sophisticated equipment and methodologies have been developed to help counter threats to pipeline integrity. However, until recently, operators have had to use individual inspection tools to detect and measure defects such as corrosion or cracks, forcing them to invest significant efforts to perform multiple inspections and correlate independent sets of data.

NewSat provides sky high benefits for pipeline industry

Satellite broadband is often the only communication option available for pipeline companies located in remote and regional parts of Australia due to poor terrestrial infrastructure.

Measuring technology solutions from tecsis

German-based tecsis is a supplier of measuring technology to the oil and gas industries worldwide. Through four divisions - pressure, temperature, force and switch - tecsis provides a combination of quality, performance, capability, innovation and consistent customer service.

The smallest of the biggest flowmeters

The new Proline Promass DN 250 Coriolis flowmeter from Endress+Hauser provides accurate inline direct mass measurement of flow rates up to 2,200 tonnes/hour – a rate almost two-and-a-half times greater than any previous Coriolis flowmeter.

Peter Norman Personnel: helping the pipeline industry develop its talent pool

Peter Norman Personnel is in the unique position of being the confidant of both the companies needing employees and candidates needing work. The company aims to be the flange that brings both the pipeline of supply and the pipeline of demand together - and ideally both pipelines will be the same size.

Improving skills in the pipeline industry rests with all of us

Susan Jaques, OSD Energy Services

Finding the right people for a project is difficult, especially when demographics show that there are few out there, particularly those with 10 – 15 years experience. Training people who are either new to the industry or who have been around for a while is also hard work, taking effort, money, time and attention. It is up to all of us in the industry to do something about recruiting pipeliners as well as training them, now that we have identified these issues as concerns.

MOXI leads the way with PMA02 competencies

MOXI is the first national private training provider that has gained accreditation to deliver and assess all competencies contained within the PMA02 Training Package, from Certificate I through to Diploma level.

Delco completes Kogan North EPC contract for Arrow Energy

Delco recently successfully completed the engineering, procurement and construction of the Kogan North Central Gas Processing Facility for Arrow Energy.

PNG-Queensland FEED: Australia

The last edition of The Australian Pipeliner featured an article looking at the Front End Engineering and Design (FEED) for the PNG section of the pipeline. In this edition, we take a look at the work being conducted by the AGL-Petronas Consortium (APC) as part of FEED work for the Australian phase of the project.

Aviation services for the mining industry

Airlines Papua New Guinea is one of Papua New Guinea’s two major International and Domestic Airlines servicing more than 120 aerodromes, often in remote locations without any alternative means of transport, with over 400 scheduled and charter flights per week.

Furmanite provides integrity management for Bayu-Undan

The Bayu-Undan gas field lies in the Joint Petroleum Development Area between East Timor and Australia, about 500 km northwest of Darwin. Furmanite has provided The Australian Pipeliner with this account of their role in the integrity management of this development.

Portable camps showcased at APIA Convention

The annual APIA Convention, held in Adelaide last year, provided the perfect opportunity for Frank and Gino Martino to highlight the latest developments in the expanding operations of Australian Portable Camps.

Baker Hughes acquires Baseline Technologies Incorporated

Baker Hughes has recently acquired Baseline Technologies Incorporated of Canada. The company will operate as part of the Baker Hughes Pipeline Management Group (PMG), allowing Baker Hughes to now offer customers pipeline data management solutions.

Nationwide introduces MultiCab

In another innovative approach to providing project fleet solutions, NationWide Hire has now added the 4WD 10-seater ‘MultiCab’ to their ever increasing range of off-road and project specific trucks.

Oil and gas industry recognised with investor relations awards

Companies in the oil and gas industry were among the winners at the sixth annual IR Magazine Australia Awards, which recognise outstanding shareholder communications.

Building a pipeline career – a conversation with Jim McDonald

When it comes to stalwarts of the Australian pipeline industry, they don’t come much better than Jim McDonald. Jim has been involved in the oil and gas industry for over 35 years, working for a number of companies both in Australia and internationally. Jim finished his career in July 2005 at the Australian Pipeline Trust, where he had served as the organisation’s foundation Chief Executive Officer and then as Managing Director. The Australian Pipeliner was recently lucky enough to sit down and talk with Jim about his long and varied career.

Garry O’Meally

For more than 45 years, Garry O’Meally has been a familiar face to those involved in the pipeline industry in Australia.

NQGP alliance wins major project management award

The North Queensland Gas Pipeline Alliance, comprising GHD, Enertrade and Thiess Nacap, has been awarded an Australian Institute of Project Management National Project Management Achievement award for its work on the North Queensland Gas Pipeline (NQGP) project.

Borin Manufacturing’s Stelth 7 Reference Electrode

Now being used in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Latin America and of course in Australia, Borin Manufacturing’s Stelth 7 is available through Savcor Products.