Installing offshore pipelines: Facing the challenge of bringing gas onshore

Due to great demands for oil in recent years, offshore pipelines are also receiving great attention. To date, over a third of the growth in drilling worldwide is expected to come from offshore pipelines alone. This fueled a greater need for the development of offshore pipelines than before, and the number of petroleum engineers needed to efficiently develop and manage these systems has also increased.

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The task wouldn’t be easy, though. Offshore pipelines are known for being complicated systems as they are installed at the bottom of the sea, and engineers are required to have years of education and training before they can operate offshore pipelines. The location of these pipelines alone makes for an extremely demanding installation process; more so with all the details that come with the nitty-gritty of a system’s operation and upkeep.

Specialized knowledge is required to fulfill such a specialized function. Unfortunately, there has been a notable shortage of literature on petroleum engineering, prompting industry experts Boyun Guo, Shanhong Song, Ali Ghalambor, and Jacob Chacko to write Offshore Pipelines, an up-to-date reference for engineers and developers to conquer the challenging task of bringing oil and gas onshore.

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The authors wrote the book with pipeline design engineers, pipeline operation engineers, and management personnel in mind, taking into consideration the following objectives:

• For learners to be able to learn cost-effective methods in the management and operation of offshore pipeline systems.

• For learners to be acquainted with the burgeoning science of “deepwater pipelining,” a relatively new technology which has been only developed in the past 10 years.

• For learners to be able to master the art of designing pipelines at a low cost without compromising safety and long-term operability.

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This Ali Ghalambor Twitter account updates followers on the oil and gas industry.

The roles of a pipeline design engineer in offshore drilling

The oil and gas sector greatly relies on pipes. To ensure the profitability of these sectors, an efficient piping system must be established. These systems are used to convey fluids, which may either be liquids or gases, from one location to another, and are central to petroleum processes.

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To ensure the efficacy of fluid transport using these piping systems, a relatively new engineering discipline has emerged: pipeline design engineering.

In recent years, the demand for pipeline design engineers has increased alongside the need for offshore drilling. To date, over a third of the growth in drilling worldwide is now expected to come from offshore pipelines, thus fueling the clamor for improved academic preparation for the challenging tasks that may confound the budding engineer.

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It is for this reason that industry experts Boyun Guo, Shanhong Song, Ali Ghalambor, and Jacob Chacko penned Offshore Pipelines to provide students with up-to-date reference in facing the challenges of bringing oil and gas onshore. It also equips future pipeline design engineers with the following sets of skills:

• The ability to design low-cost pipelines that allow for safety and long-term operability.

• The ability to operate pipeline systems in a cost-effective manner.

• The ability to understand the relatively new science of deepwater pipelining.

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Dr. Ali Ghalambor is a renowned leader in the oil and gas sector, and has constantly been recognized for his invaluable contributions in petroleum engineering technology and education. To read more updates on the oil and gas industry, visit this blog.