International Standards For The Oil And Natural Gas Industries: A Review Paper

ABSTRACT This review paper describes the status of developments towards a complete set of international standards for the oil and natural gas industry. It builds on papers describing the intent of the program me presented at the 1992 OTC by Thomas, Thorp and Denham; Wilson; and Arney (Refs. 1, 2, and 3)(Available in full paper). These papers state the objectives of developing a set of ISO standards predominantly within lSO/lC67. This paper places the development of the set of standards for the oil and natural gas industry in the context of the need for, and use of, standards by the industry. It describes the main standards organizations including their structure, procedures and relationships. it identifies lSO/TC67 as the key international standards committee for "materials, equipment and offshore structures for petroleum and natural gas industries", and details its role and current work programme. It concludes with a summary of the achievements to date. Significance: Common international standards should enable all stakeholders involved (users/ suppliers/ regulatory bodies) to conduct their business efficiently (Iifecycle cost) with enhanced safety/integrity. INTRODUCTION Standards are generated and maintained with the specific aim of providing a means to:enhance technical integritytransfer knowledge, andcarry out business efficiently and cost effectively. With a system of standards in place which clearly and transparently specifies common essential requirements it is possible for a company to practice "Variety Control": i.e. restricting the number of types and vendors of equipment and services meeting the requirements (Figure 1)(Available in full paper). Several oil companies have developed standardization policies aiming to (Ref. 4):maximise the use of external standards;minimise additional requirements in company standards;ensure variations are justified for both technical and commercial reasons;ensure the continuous improvement of company standards by feedback from users of the standards; andpositively influence external standards bodies to increase the number and quality of external standards applicable for company use. (Note: In this paper company standards include company specifications). Typically, the following headings need to be addressed in order to successfully create and maintain a company standards system: steering committee; transparent standards structure; company standards development; external standards participation; enhanced use of information technology; variety control; and training. A transparent standards structure is illustrated in Figure 2. This reflects the policy statement, for a large organization, and recognizes the principle that operating company variations and project variations to the company and/or external standard exist and may be required. Inherent in the transparent standards structure is an enhanced commitment to external, preferably international, standards. BACKGROUND The oil and natural gas industry is international in its operation, with many large oil companies and their suppliers operating all over the globe. The oil and natural gas industry uses a great number of standards developed by a range of organizations including industry associations, and national, regional and international standardization bodies.