Developing a Pipeline Risk Assessment Tool for the Upstream Oil and Gas Industry

Developing a pipeline risk assessment tool in the upstream oil and gas industry can be a difficult process. Regardless of the intent (integrity management, resource allocation, compliance etc.), challenges in the form of resource limitations and data constraints need to be overcome to develop a functional risk assessment tool. This paper describes Talisman Energy’s experience in developing an in-house pipeline risk assessment process that fits its business model and overcomes specific challenges. Assumptions and simplifications made in developing this process along with benefits and limitations of such a process are also discussed. The resulting methodology can be described as a semi-quantitative one that uses an un-mitigated risk approach to identify high risk pipelines. Using this methodology Talisman Energy has been able to highlight high risk pipelines in critical areas and implement integrity management activities to mitigate their risk.