Planning and Execution of Pipeline Operations

This chapter, Pipeline Operations: Planning and Execution, has the primary objective of offering the reader an introductory but wide overview of pipeline operations in oil and gas segment in general. Each of the most relevant themes in pipeline operations that are recurring will be addressed or described in less or more detail throughout the text, including SCADA, measurement, leak detection, pumping, compression, and emergency protocols, among others. The chapter itself is structured on three main topics, in addition to the introduction and conclusions: gas pipelines, oil pipelines, and centralized operations. Each of the first two topics will be divided between the planning and operations processes, including logistical aspects, simulation, and programming activities in the first one, and items such as typical installations description and functioning, as well as the monitoring and control activities in the second. The topic centralized operations, in its turn, aims at detailing the control room management process and its evolution, seeking to take a look at the future of the control center, considering the potential technologies that are presented today for the sector. So this chapter intends to be a quick and reliable source for consultation, also seeking to bring to literature the principal aspects, elements, and terms from the operational process of the industry and the market of pipeline companies in the sector of oil and gas.