The Pipeline Open Data Standard (PODS) Association develops and advances global pipeline data standards and best practices supporting data management and reporting for the oil and gas industry. This presentation provides an overview of the PODS Association and a detailed overview of the transformed PODS Pipeline Data Model resulting from the PODS Next Generation initiative. The PODS Association’s Next Generation, or Next Gen, initiative is focused on a complete re-design and modernization of the PODS Pipeline Data Model. The re-design of the PODS Pipeline Data Model is driven by PODS Association Strategy objectives as defined in its 2016–2019 Strategic Plan and reflects nearly 20 years of PODS Pipeline Data Model implementation experience and lessons learned. The Next Gen Data Model is designed to be the system of record for pipeline centerlines and pressurized containment assets for the safe transport of product, allowing pipeline operators to: • Achieve greater agility to build and extend the data model, • respond to new business requirements, • interoperate through standard data models and consistent application interface, • share data within and between organizations using well defined data exchange specifications, • optimize performance for management of bulk loading, reroute, inspection data and history. The presentation will introduce the Next Gen Data Model design principles, conceptual, logical and physical structures with a focus on transformational changes from prior versions of the Model. Support for multiple platforms including but not limited to Esri ArcGIS, open source GIS and relational database management systems will be described. Alignment with Esri’s ArcGIS Platform and ArcGIS for Pipeline Referencing (APR) will be a main topic of discussion along with how PODS Next Gen can be leveraged to benefit pipeline integrity, risk assessment, reporting and data maintenance. The end goal of a PODS implementation is a realization of data management efficiency, data transfer and exchange, to make the operation of a pipeline safer and most cost effective.

Enbridge partnered with Aerosafe Risk Management to perform risk profiling to assist strategic planning activities aimed at safety performance improvement. A preliminary risk report, the first step towards an Industry Risk Profile (IRP) was the outcome. An IRP presents a strategic view of the risks within an industry sector at a point in time, requiring input from many stakeholders including operators, associations, and regulators. Most importantly, an IRP facilitates joint solutioning of risks to achieve improved safety performance and industry wide risk reduction. The preliminary risk report considered Enbridge data in addition to publically available information from associations and regulators to produce a preliminary risk report. The data gathering process considered information related to governance and oversight, compliance regime, assurance model, asset capabilities, industry operating environment, industry safety profile, and operator profile. Results of the preliminary risk report are shared in this paper, with applicability to other operators, associations, and regulators. Providing the first building block of the IRP, these results focus on how organizations like Enbridge who aspire to participate or lead industry level reform or change can use the data to reshape their corporate risk based decision making. This approach, if adopted more broadly across the industry could provide as far reaching results as those seen in the aviation, military and transport sectors. The IRP methodology and approach developed by Aerosafe in the mid-2000s, is now well entrenched in the aviation industry and is used by regulators and industry alike to create a pathway for industry level risk reduction and notable reform. The use of an IRP is considered best practices by the aviation, transport and regulatory sectors in the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand and after being in use in some sectors of aviation around the globe since 2008, the results are now measurable. These results provide a strong and clear link between safety performance improvement and the management and reduction of the industry risk profile.

This paper provides a summary of some management-technical changes and Pemex’s actions to face challenges derived from transportation, distribution, storage and marketing natural gas liberalization. Since natural gas consumption hasn’t shown uniform growth for all consumer sectors, the Mexican Government decided to change the “rules of the game” to guarantee that such operations could attain the efficiency levels planned for 1995–2000. Thus, Constitutional Article 27 was reformed in 1995, the Energy Regulatory Commission and Natural Gas Regulation were created. This opened the doors to domestic and international investors to participate in transportation and distribution projects. So, to face this challenges and new missions, PGPB started working on new programs and projects to update it’s pipeline transmission system, such as risk management, operational reliability, quality systems, scada operation, reengineering business procedures and strategic planning to improve benefits and reduce incident/accidents. Finally, the energetic and environmental advantages of natural gas are addressed.

States are facing multiple challenges around new pipeline infrastructure as a result of unconventional oil and gas development. In many instances, federal oversight of interstate pipelines has failed to keep up with state interest in new pipelines. However, some states lack an efficient centralized or streamlined siting and permitting process to accommodate new development. This paper examines the different approaches by various states and what oil and gas companies can do to minimize risk by balancing the competing public and private interests to obtain the necessary permits and approvals without delaying project construction. The paper includes discussion of both Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) regulated natural gas pipelines as well as crude oil and product lines not regulated by FERC. In addition, this paper provides a first-hand perspective on how public opposition can change the regulatory landscape during the course of a project using the Keystone XL Project as an example. After the Keystone XL Project ran into permitting issues, the Nebraska Legislature modified its law, directing the state to evaluate the environmental, economic, social and other impacts of the Nebraska segment of the project. Because the state did not have a specific NEPA process, Nebraska had to first establish a process to conduct the state’s evaluation and produce the functional equivalent of a NEPA document, resulting in project delays. This paper also describes how the evolving use of social media has provided a mechanism for rapid dissemination of information for both project opponents and proponents. There is a heightened national awareness that may now target certain projects based on impacts to select environmental resources such that just meeting the minimum regulatory requirements may not be enough moving forward. In today’s regulatory environment, strategic planning and communications are critical to raise awareness in advance of the potential opposition.

There are many projects proposed to transport oil and gas resources to British Columbia’s (BC’s) west coast. BC has multiple major pipeline transmission systems (e.g., Trans Mountain pipeline, Spectra Energy and Pacific Northern Gas), and at least six major oil and gas pipelines are planned for construction over the next decade [1]. Large pipeline projects like these that span hundreds of kilometres can involve multiple jurisdictions (federal, provincial or joint) and require considerable regulatory planning. Once a pipeline project is approved through an environmental assessment (EA) process, it must still undergo rigorous environmental review as part of regulatory permitting. This paper provides an overview of oil and gas environmental regulatory processes in BC, with a focus on the role and process of the BC Oil and Gas Commission (BC OGC) as it pertains to environmental permitting requirements (i.e., legislation and regulation) for pipeline projects. Current regulatory application and review processes have been developed for small projects. This creates several unique considerations for major pipeline project applications. Among these is how best to coordinate the permit applications required for environmental management and protection of the diverse resource features of interest to BC regulatory agencies (e.g., culturally modified trees, riparian management areas, wildlife tree retention areas and old growth management areas). This paper also highlights the need for an integrated multidisciplinary approach and discusses lessons learned related to strategic planning of permit applications. We provide examples of how collaboration among the proponent’s teams and multiple consultant teams is necessary to develop effective regulatory strategies and obtain timely approvals.

The Petrobras Transporte SA Strategic Plan (SP) is an instrument that contains the strategic positioning of the company and aims at guiding the management and action plan in the achievement of the corporate goals. Apart from that, the SP explains the portfolio of investment projects by segment and business area. Every year since 2009, the Terminals and Pipelines Board of Directors have allocated the strategic objectives under their responsibility in order to ensure the alignment of the strategic planning with the operational activities of the company. For this end the strategic objectives are distributed between the Pipeline Executive Management and the Marine Terminals Executive Management. This division allows for the assignment of responsibilities in a structured way throughout the organization, this way setting up the Tactical Plan of the Business Units. To achieve the goals, the evolution of the Tactical Plan of the Pipelines Executive Management is monitored through regular meetings with the Regional Managements as well as through diversions, potential difficulties and corrective and preventive actions. Besides regular meetings, several instruments have been implemented for effective monitoring of the Tactical Plan, e.g. a web based platform for sharing information, video conferences, performance indicators and other tools that enable the management of the actions. This paper aims to describe best practices applied to the purposes and goals of the Pipeline Tactical Plan under the management of the Southern Pipelines Management, describing their Benefits to the company in a long-term horizon under conditions of uncertainty of the international energy market.

The speed of the changes that have occurred in the world have forced organizations to adapt themselves and offer new products to the consumers in increasingly shorter timeframes, or risk being overtaken by the competition. The cycle of project life is being reduced, making the management increasingly complex both for the projects and portfolios of projects. Included in this scenario are companies from the oil sector that act to develop management systems that manage to aggregate greater chances of success for its projects as well as the capacity to manage multiple projects simultaneously. The concept of success itself is controversial, because on the one hand it is one of the most researched topics, on the other there is still no consensus among those interested. It becomes necessary then to understand the concept of success for projects, and to establish ways of measuring it, and try to identify the critical factors of success and the critical factors of failure, so that organizations can manage their own projects adequately. Companies with extensive project portfolios confront greater challenges, because they have to develop efficient methodologies to manage and maintain their portfolios, in addition to having to develop competences to accompany the management of multiple projects, identifying possible corrective actions for the deviations identified in time. One efficient manner of pro-actively controlling extensive portfolios of projects being executed simultaneously at different geographical locations is the utilization of a tool via web that integrates all the management activities. This tool must have as a basic premise its utility for the work of the management team, and not only be a communication tool, since in this case it would call for an effort by the management team that adds no value to the project. This article has the objective of showing the results of research carried out to identify how Transpetro, the largest logistics company in South America, which operates a fleet of 55 ships with transport capacity of 2.9 million deadweight tons, 7,033 km of oil pipelines and 3,600 km of gas pipelines, 20 land-based terminals and 26 water-based terminals, controls its engineering projects, directing its efforts in an attempt to achieve greater chances of success so as to comply with its strategic planning.

The North American energy pipeline system represents a security challenge. Taking a holistic view of the problem allows the operator to construct and implement a strategy systematically. The solution involves a multi-disciplinary approach using a combination of business tools and technology to provide enhanced protection, and rapid restoration and recovery in the event of an attack. • Mapping of “high consequence” areas, including pipeline segments near population centers, water resources, or environmentally sensitive regions, will allow energy companies to more logically allocate security resources, but there may remain vast stretches of pipeline where physical barriers are impractical. • Formal decision analysis techniques can be effectively used to assess potential threats, analyze vulnerabilities, prepare contingency plans and set priorities. • Hardware elements of the solution will draw heavily upon technological innovations, including the use of active earth observation imagery and sophisticated sensing equipment for surveillance and early detection. • Strategic planning exercises will allow operators to think through the problem before a threat occurs and to put in place resources to react to a threat and to respond, restore, and recover from an attack. This is particularly true in coordination across a region. The expanding effort to safeguard the continent’s energy infrastructure will rely upon a greater level of (1) government-industry cooperation, particularly in the areas of data and information collection/analysis/dissemination, (2) technological adaptation/innovation, including greater use of sensing and surveillance technologies, (3) the development of financial and insurance products that fit the specific needs of energy asset owners and operators, (4) communication with key constituencies: customers, suppliers, regulators, law enforcement agencies, and financial markets, (5) customized training for employees, (6) government supervisory and enforcement authority to inspect and penalize companies that do not implement the appropriate level of security, while providing a due diligence safe harbor for those that are proactive; and (7) an unwavering commitment to protect vital assets, human, physical, and otherwise. It is critical that pipeline security programs focus on long-term, sustainable solutions that are customized to fit the specific needs of particular energy asset networks. The paper contains a specific example of pipeline infrastructure management system and display screen examples.