Abstract
Dubai Petroleum (the Operator) operates five oil fields in the offshore Dubai area of the United Arab Emirates. Within these operated fields there is a network of over 30 unlined carbon steel sea water injection pipelines that are presently in use, with abandoned or mothballed pipelines taking this number to over 50. This publication discusses the experience of the Operator, where the operating life of these pipelines has typically exceeded 20 years, and on occasion has exceeded 40 years. This is compared with the experience of the UK sector, where failures in as little as four years have been noted and many pipelines have failed to reach 15 years of service. The prevalent corrosion mechanisms are discussed and a comparison of corrosion control measures such as de-aeration and microbial control is made. An assessment of the Operator’s pipeline corrosion, chemical, monitoring and inspection data is discussed. Evidence is presented that operational pigging of sea water injection pipelines can reduce corrosion rates and significantly extent pipeline life in combination with other industry standard corrosion control measures such as de-aeration, chlorination and batch biocide treatment.
