Pipeline safety and risk to feature at AOG 2016

Friday, 29 January, 2016

Pipeline safety and risk will be on the agenda this year at the annual Australasian Oil & Gas Exhibition and Conference (AOG 2016), to be held at the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre from 24 to 26 February.

High-pressure gas pipelines can be the source of major accidents — as evidenced by the disastrous pipeline failures in the US in 2010. In San Bruno, California, eight people were killed and an entire suburb was destroyed when a gas transmission pipeline ruptured and the leaking gas caught fire. A few months earlier, failure of an oil line in Marshall, Michigan, resulted in a huge leak of ‘dilbit’ into a local river, which became the most expensive onshore oil spill in US history.

Key lessons can be learned from disasters such as these, which will be highlighted by Professors Andrew Hopkins from the Australian National University and Jan Hayes from RMIT University during the Pipeline Safety, Risk and Integrity stream available to conference delegates.

The Australian industry has world-leading research, education and safety standards to improve integrity and reduce risk in the oil and gas sector. Other key speakers and topics to be covered throughout this stream on the first day include:

Melinda Hodkiewicz (The University of Western Australia), who will talk on: The Varanus Island Pipeline Explosion — what lessons for today’s engineering students and industry?
Cheryl Cartwright (Australian Pipelines and Gas Association), who will speak on: The Pipeline Industry Taking Action on Safety
Klaas van Alphen (Energy Pipelines CRC), who will discuss: Implementing Safety Research: the work of the Energy Pipelines CRC

Deemed Australasia’s largest oil and gas industry event, AOG in 2015 attracted over 620 exhibitors from more than 25 countries and welcomed around 14,000 visitors.

Celebrating its 35th year, the forum will feature a theme of ‘Collaboration’, with over 100 experts from companies around the world providing input on how industry, government and other key stakeholders should continue to work closely together to reduce costs and improve productivity.

Industry zones are also expected to be a major attraction this year with the Health, Safety & Environment Zone in particular showcasing products, services and training for the HSE industry, including protective equipment, communications technology, hazardous area products, spill control, emergency response, safety skills training, offshore and maritime safety training, and hot work management solutions.

Ken Fitzpatrick, chair of Australia’s new Oil, Gas and Energy Resources Growth Centre, will be joined by Western Australia’s Minister for Commence, the Hon. Michael Mischin, for the opening conference session on Wednesday 24 February.

Download the conference brochure here.