There are a lot of ways to mess up a drilling and refining operation, but one of the simplest and, ironically, costliest to fix has got to be by sourcing inferior grades of oil field pipe for installation in critical supply areas. I don’t know why people keep thinking they can get away with it. Supply pipelines are what transports crude product to refineries, holding tanks, and transport points, so you would think it would be something people would pay more attention to, but it is not as glamorous a subject as new drilling methods or refining techniques. No one wants to talk about pipes. They need to, though, because there are thousands upon thousands of miles of basically antique pipes still being used throughout this country. They are inefficient. They leak. They are an environmental menace and a profit sink, and they are not well protected from environmental or manmade disasters. But, as I said, no one wants to talk about pipes. They’re not cool.
Tags: oil field pipe