Maintaining Aging Export Systems-Replace, Maintain or Renew?

摘要

Offshore Loading Systems represent a critical asset of tank farms and refineries operations, with potentially significant financial consequences in case of unavailability. The paper looks at the main issues associated with Integrity Management of aging export and loading systems (both topside equipment such as CALM buoys and subsea equipment such as pipelines and PLEMs) and discusses the main drivers forcing Operators to consider either replacing or upgrading their existing systems. Following a steep decline in oil prices at the end of 2014, which are likely to remain at present values for the near future, many Operators are looking at options to postpone planned procurement projects to replace aging equipment and are pursuing alternative strategies to maintain the output and uptime of their aging facilities. This paper discusses Integrity Management best practices, available to Operators to survey and maintain as well as manage the service life extension of their systems. The paper also addresses the options available when remediation works must be carried out. In particular, attention is focused on novel refurbishment activities which can be performed onsite whilst minimising the level of system downtime. Examples include: Refurbishment of CALM Buoys in dry-dock or on-site, relining of corroded subsea pipelines and removal/replacement subsea of damaged or corroded sections of pipeline. In conclusion, a number of cost comparison studies are presented to demonstrate the potential financial benefits of extending the remaining life of a system rather than replacing aging equipment with new.