IPLOCA and APIA have had a close relationship over many years. This relationship has further developed with APIA Board member Andy Lukas also participating on the IPLOCA Board and for the past year providing his services to IPLOCA as their President. Over many years, APIA members have attended IPLOCA conventions and I am grateful to have received a warm welcome at the convention in Barcelona last year. The international pipeline industry certainly is dynamic and the convention was an excellent opportunity to learn about developments beyond Australia.
In Australia, APIA’s members are responding to new challenges and opportunities. APIA is participating in the carbon trading discussion, highlighting the benefits of natural gas as a transition fuel – and possibly also as a fuel of the future – in a world where greenhouse gas emissions must be reduced. The industry has been quick to respond to new opportunities in water transportation, participating in many projects for water transportation infrastructure. While the need for this infrastructure has been clear for some time, the recent devastating drought has increased Australians’ awareness of this continent’s water needs and has also brought forward much of the required investment.
Australia’s pipeliners will also be prepared when the nation’s coal-fired energy producers further develop technologies that will see carbon capture and storage as a means of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. If and when geosequestration becomes a reality, APIA’s members will be ready to participate not only in building the pipelines to transport the CO2 gases, but also to help manage the movement of the waste products.
This is a vibrant industry, both in Australia and internationally, and one that provides excellent skills training and career opportunities. As an international industry, our younger pipeliners are learning that, with commitment and enthusiasm, their career can take them to new frontiers throughout the pipeline industry – including with APIA’s and IPLOCA’s members. APIA’s younger pipeliners have already taken the opportunity to participate in many events over the past year or so – with discounts provided at seminars and for first-time convention participants under 35 years of age. Twenty young pipeliners undertook an educational tour of APIA’s Wollongong members and saw steel making at BlueScope Steel, pipe making techniques at Orrcon and OneSteel and pipe coating at APC Socotherm and Bredero Shaw. And six young pipeliners were provided with APIA scholarships to attend the international pipeline research conference, the Joint Technical Meeting, which was held this year in Australia – the first time this event had been held in the Southern Hemisphere.
Not long after the IPLOCA convention, APIA’s 2007 Annual Convention and Exhibition will be held at the Royal Pines Resort at the Gold Coast in Queensland. I urge APIA members to register as soon as possible and I also encourage IPLOCA’s members who will be in Sydney in early October, to stay for a few weeks and join us at the Gold Coast for Australia’s premier pipeline event.
APIA trusts that the IPLOCA visitors to Australia will enjoy Sydney (and possibly also the Gold Coast) and this special IPLOCA edition of The Australian Pipeliner.
Cheryl Cartwright
Chief Executive