Pipeline Integrity Management Through Corrosion Mitigation and Inspection Strategy in Corrosive Environment: An Experience of Arabian Gulf Oil Company in Libya

Pipeline integrity, safety and reliability are major concerns to all pipeline operators and managers. The primary objective of pipeline integrity management (PIM) is to maintain pipeline in a fit-for-service condition while extending its remaining life in the most reliable, safe and cost effective manner. A successful pipeline integrity management program incorporates design, material selection, corrosion mitigation, monitoring and inspection, maintenance, operations, risk evaluation and communication concepts. These concepts are interlinked.

Arabian Gulf Oil Company (AGOCO) Libya has large network of oil and gas pipelines. This paper presents the experience of pipeline integrity management of AGOCO pipelines through material section, corrosion mitigation, corrosion monitoring and inspection strategies. External corrosion on buried pipeline is controlled with a combination of pipeline coatings and cathodic protection while internal corrosion is controlled with a combination of chemical inhibitors, periodic cleaning and process control. The  monitoring and inspection techniques provide a way to measure the effectiveness of the corrosion control systems and provide an early warning when changing conditions may be causing a corrosion problem. This paper describes the pipeline integrity management system used for AGOCO pipelines based on standard practices of corrosion mitigation and inspection.