CHAPTER 5

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

5.1

Conclusion
Many pipeline projects have been continuously building to get the gas and oil

from sea to the shore and also from platform to platform. The transportation of gas from
fields (offshore) to the shore is normally by using the sub-sea pipeline. The constructions
of Offshore Gas Pipelines are quite complex, in which pre-commissioning activities
contains high risk that cause of schedule and cost impact.

As the result based on the data and analysis provided, my company is successfully
performing Pre-commissioning process which include the cleaning, gauging, filling,
hydrotesting of 32 dia. x 75.5 km pipeline from E11RC platform to NC3 platform. The
provided Table 4.1 Pressure Test Data of 32 Pipeline in Result and Discussion showing
that the Pressure drop during test period is less than 1% which can be defined as the
pipeline is clean from debris and other material tolerance. Its prove that the Precommissioning phase or process is successfully done and been certified by 3 rd party body
which is DNV (Dot Norske Veritas). These process is managing to meet client schedule
and safety is in zero tolerance and now the said pipeline is successfully returned to
Petronas to commence a gas flow.

Risk management is an important part of the decision-making process of all

construction companies. Risk and uncertainty can potentially have damaging
consequences for some construction projects. Risk can affect productivity, performance,
quality, and the budget of a project. Risk cannot be eliminated. The constructions of
Offshore Gas Pipelines are quite complex, in which pre-commissioning activities
contains high risk that cause of schedule and cost impact. In some case, the risk
occurrence leads to delay the whole project complex. The negative impacts to project
(cost and schedule) at Client and Contractors, or even serious disputes between the
involved parties could be raised if no precautions are undertaken.

5.2

Recommendation

Constructing and operating subsea pipelines in deep water requires a tremendous

amount of care, consideration and management. The greater depths add increased
pressure on the pipelines, thus making necessary higher grade material to withstand the
pressure; in addition, the weight and corrosion resistivity of the materials also need to be
taken into consideration. Maintenance activities are also made harder due the increased
depths. In response pipeline technologies have made substantial improvements.

The increasing number of subsea and deep water developments brings new
challenges when there are no surface connections to the pipeline available for testing and
pre-commissioning. Once constructed/installed, such subsea and deep water systems still
must undergo certain pre-commissioning and commissioning operations, from initial
flooding, gauging and testing, up to final start up. While the provision of such services in
shallow water and topside-to-topside developments is routine, the same services at water
depths in excess of 104m-107m pose many challenges.
These challenges, and the current/planned technologies to address them, including
Flooding and Pigging subsea pipelines using a remote flooding module (RFM). This
enables the use of available hydrostatic head to flood and pig subsea pipelines while
meeting the project requirements in terms of pig speed, filtration, and chemical treatment.

Recommended to use of ROV driven pumping units to complete flooding and

pressurization. By using the hydraulic power from a work class ROV to power a custom
built pump skid connected onto the RFM, all pigging and pipeline testing can be
performed subsea.
The use of smart gauge tools (SGT) to gauge pipelines without using aluminum
gauge plates. This allows the gauging of lines with reduced bore PLETs at each end.
Also, this gives the ability to communicate the result of the gauging run through-wall
without the need to recover the gauge plate to surface. This allows testing without pig
recovery.
Furthermore, by using of subsea data loggers to record pressures and temperatures
during subsea testing, and use of systems to transmit this data to surface in real-time
during the test.
The need for new and improved pre-commissioning technologies is expected to be
particularly acute in the Asia/Pacific market, where there has been a significant increase
in deep water pipeline projects over the past few years.
It is important to have a good plan is not only for pre-commissioning work but
also for the whole construction phase, in which the bad weather window of the sea must
avoid. The necessary equipment for work must be arranged probably.
As a part of Risk Management, review the quality document and certificates
completed with conformance inspect of materials and equipment are also conducted
probably. The design of pipeline is important requirement. The designer has to foresee
construction requirements and all project constrains have to be incorporated in his design.
Any insufficient design can cause of problems for construction and pre-commissioning
phase.
By review the quality document and certificates completed with conformance
inspect of materials and equipment are also conducted probably, but it can be minimized,

transferred or retained. Therefore, 3rd party certified body need to be hire to prove all the
data documented according to client standard. Its also a part of the client requirement.