|
|
|
Exploration & Production: The Oil & Gas Review - 2003, Volume 2
|
|
|
|
|
Order high-quality repints of any articles on this website
|
|
|
|
|
|
Value of a Whole-of-industry Perspective
One of the outcomes of the Australian Pipeline Industry Association’s (APIA’s) evolution from its contractor base to membership across the industry chain has been the development of a robust industry viewpoint on critical industry issues. The disparate views of the APIA Executive have strengthened the position of APIA as it has worked to achieve a whole-of-industry perspective through collaboration and consensus.
An example of a recent APIA win occurred when the Federal Government of Australia announced its intention to impose an effective tax life of around 50 years on pipelines, which would have severely damaged pipeline development activity in Australia. However, effective lobbying on the part of APIA led to a government commitment to legislate for a more sustainable 20-year cap.
Some issues are particular to individual industry areas and they require separate management. For example, pipeline owners independently fund the work of commercial regulation management on the basis of A$4 from owners to A$1 from APIA. Recognition is given to the fact that, if owners succeed all industry The Australian Experience 90 Technology Overview members benefit. However, the issue remains at its core a problem for owners.
It would be wrong to pretend that APIA gets it right every time. It will come as no surprise that the issue of common construction contracts is alive and well in APIA. It has experimented with various mechanisms of contracting. Partnering in particular was an easy step for some parties to seek to achieve. However, its success was met with mixed reactions because partnering, by definition, excludes some from the process.
Overall, however, the whole-of-industry approach has enabled the Australian pipeline industry to develop timely and innovative solutions to the array of challenges it has faced.
The objective of APIA members is building better, less expensive pipelines that meet the demands of the marketplace. This article discusses briefly the ways in which APIA’s industry model has supported the achievement of key industry outcomes.
Technical Standards
The Australian pipeline industry has enjoyed a good relationship with its technical regulators over the past decade. Australia’s technical regulators are found in its individual states and territories rather than operating under a single national regulatory body. Despite the complexities presented by this state-based system involving eight different technical regulators, the industry has worked to develop and maintain an open dialogue with technical regulators and this approach has been welcomed and reciprocated.
This commitment to open communication served the relationship well in 1994 when all state governments of Australia responded to an APIA initiative and decided to adopt Australian Standard AS2885 (“the Standard”). The Standard sets out the principles, parameters and processes to be used to ensure that high-pressure pipelines deliver their loads safely and reliably. It is maintained by the ME38 Committee, a joint committee consisting of technical regulators and industry representatives, and provides a comprehensive document to guide the design, construction, welding and operation of high-pressure gas and liquid petroleum pipelines. With representation on this committee, technical regulators have grown to understand the risks of pipeline construction and maintenance, as well as the risks involved in the application of new technologies. It is a great model of ‘co-regulation’.
With greater acceptance across the major stakeholder groups, changes to the Standard have been published and industry participants educated within a greatly reduced timeframe. For example, when the Standard was changed following a review of Part 3: Operations and Maintenance, the timeframe from the commencement of the review, through to its publishing for commercial application and finally education of engineers across Australia, was around 18 months. The APIA structure and approach enabled open discussion. APIA also held a series of seminars and workshops around the country to promote understanding. A further measure of its success is the adoption of the Standard in New Zealand and there is strong interest elsewhere around the world in incorporating the Standard’s principles.
The success of the Standard is a tribute to the spirit of co-operation that now exists between technical regulators and industry professionals. With a national focus and a dialogue based on mutual understanding, the Standard’s working groups have succeeded where divergent state-based technical standards could not.
Category:
Transportation
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
James K McDonald is President of the
Australian Pipeline Industry Association
(APIA), a member of APIA's Pipeline
Owners Committee and has served
as Chairman of the Environmental
Affairs Committee of APIA. He was
appointed Executive Director of the
Australian Pipeline Trust in June
2002, which he joined from The
Australian Gas Light Company (AGL).
Prior to his roles with AGL, he
spent 15 years with Esso Australia's
Gippsland Production Group. He is a
Fellow of the Australian Institute of
Company Directors and he has served
as a member of the Board of the
Australian Gas Association and The
Australian Council for Infrastructure
Development. Mr McDonald is a past
Chairman of the Gas Transmission
Committee of AGA.
|
|
|
|
Dr Allen Beasley was appointed
Executive Director of APIA in January
1999. He has more than 20 years of
experience in the energy sector and
was involved in gas reform issues in
the UK and Australia during the 1990s,
including the sale of the Moomba-
Sydney Pipeline and gas reform
initiatives developed through the
Council of Australian Governments. Dr
Beasley is a science graduate and
holds a PhD in Chemistry.
|
|
|
|
Download PDF
References
