Displaying items by tag: STATS Group

Innovative new technology used to isolate gas pipelines in need of repair or maintenance has shown to prevent gas leakages and cut carbon dioxide emissions by 95% compared with venting pipeline contents to atmosphere - the equivalent of switching off 1,760 gas boilers for a year or taking 1,000 cars off the road

The UK’s National Gas, which owns and operates over 7,600km of gas pipelines underground, has successfully adopted STATS Group’s Remote Tecno Plug® (RTP) on a recent project near St Cyrus in Scotland.

The RTP was trialled to reduce the emissions released during pipeline isolation, a crucial process used by operators to stop gas from leaking while they perform upgrades and maintenance on the pipes. Usually, this is done through reducing the volume of gas in the pipeline by a process called recompression and then venting the remaining gas to atmosphere.

STATS Group personnel monitoring a 48in Remote Tecno Plug, St Cyrus, Montrose

The efficient use of the RTP allows the work to be undertaken more quickly, with zero leaks during operations, improving safety and with the overall discharge of greenhouse gases significantly reduced.

Project managers estimated that traditional venting techniques would have emitted 233 tonnes of gas. However, the RTP reduced emissions to 9.5 tonnes, saving gas released into the atmosphere, but also resulting in significant cost savings of over £100,000 of gas not wasted.

This success has prompted National Gas to formalise a policy encouraging the use of this RTP technology in future isolation projects across the UK - with potential for these tools to be adopted by the individual gas distribution networks across the UK in future.

The UK has a legal obligation to reach net zero emissions by 2050 to address climate change, but gas is still integral to the UK, keeping the lights on and industries fuelled. It’s also important for the country’s energy security, making it resilient to demand spikes or pressures on the system.

STATS Group's 48in Remote Tecno Plug in situ St Cyrus, Montrose

The gas emission savings on the project near St Cyrus was the equivalent of switching off 1,760 gas boilers for a year or travelling 5.9 million miles in a 2018 Ford Fiesta - equal to removing more than 1,000 cars off UK roads for a year.

Kirsty McDermott, Senior Engineer at National Gas, said: “Using plugs like the RTP can greatly reduce emissions for temporary pipeline isolations, and on this project emissions were reduced by up to 24 times compared to traditional recompression methods.

“In addition to the environmental and economic benefits relative to reduced venting requirements, carrying out the trial work allowed us to interrogate the integrity of our pipelines and ensure they continue to deliver energy to where it’s needed across the UK.”

Neil Mackay, Group Senior Business Development Manager at STATS, said:

“This was the first use of our innovative pipeline isolation plug technology on the National Transmission System and following the successful outcome on the project, National Gas will update existing policies to make the use of isolation tools business as usual, which in turn will reduce barriers, increase efficiency and enable more critical maintenance work to be completed.”

STATS' RTP technology successfully sealed a 56km-long, 48-inch pipeline, ensuring a leak-proof and fail-safe isolation. It maintained full pressurisation at 55bar in the initial use of RTP on the National Transmission System, which surpasses traditional methods like venting or recompression. The technology offered secure double blocking and monitored isolation, allowing safe and efficient maintenance activities, such as welding.

In addition to operational phase tests, extensive integrity tests, independently evaluated by Specialist Engineering 3rd Parties DNV and Pipeline Integrity Engineers (PIE), were conducted to ensure the technology's reliability and safety. This work will allow for future projects to consider isolation tools in different applications.

Based in Kintore near Inverurie in Aberdeenshire, STATS employs more than 380 staff in the UK, North America, the Middle East and Australasia and is a market leader in the supply of pressurised pipeline isolation, hot tapping and plugging services to the energy industry.

Remote Tecno Plug® (RTP) - is a hydraulically activated mechanical plug featuring locks and dual elastomer seals. This provides leak-tight double block and monitored isolation, enabling maintenance or repair activities to take place safely and efficiently.

STATS provides specialist engineering services for the maintenance, integrity and repair of oil, gas and petrochemical installations and infrastructure.

STATS have gained an excellent reputation for providing a responsive, client-centred approach combined with expertise and innovative products which enhance safety and environmental performance, reduce system or plant downtime, improve asset performance, and support decommissioning and abandonment.

The group operates from its headquarters in Kintore, Aberdeenshire, in the UK; Edmonton, Canada; Houston, USA; Abu Dhabi, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Qatar in the Middle East; Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia and Perth, Australia.

On 5 July 2023, STATS was acquired by Japan Stock Market listed Mitsui and Co Ltd, becoming part of Mitsui’s Iron & Steel Business Unit.

Mitsui is a global trading and investment company with a diversified business portfolio that spans approximately 63 countries in Asia, Europe, North, Central & South America, The Middle East, Africa and Oceania. Listed on the Japanese stock market (Prime Market), the group has over 46,000 employees with annual revenues of US$107bn and total assets in excess of US$115bn.

Website: www.statsgroup.com

Website: www.mitsui.com

STATS Group has established a new Australian entity and will invest up to $AUD 2 million (£1 million) in workshop facilities and intervention equipment to support its drive in the country’s pipeline integrity market.

The pipeline technology specialist has been successful in the last five years in securing a range of strategic contracts in the oil and gas and LNG sectors and is now consolidating its presence in-country.

As part of the group’s broader localisation strategy, a workshop and storage facility close to Perth, Western Australia, has been secured and the Aberdeenshire-headquartered business is recruiting local field and workshop technicians and a lead project engineer to support an increase in demand for the group’s services.

Already in 2021, on behalf of major Operators, STATS has completed two 12” BISEP (double block & bleed isolation) intervention projects in Darwin, Northern Territory; four 14” BISEP workscopes in Perth; and in Victoria’s Bass Strait provided an 18” Subsea Hot Tap Clamp with 12” branch and subsea hot tapping services, and a 20” Remote Tecno Plug isolation on an offshore platform.

The new Perth base will act as STATS’ intervention hub for Asia Pacific (APAC) clients, making it easier to ship equipment between key markets, minimising freight costs and importantly reducing the company’s carbon footprint.

STATS Group’s regional manager for APAC, Gareth Campbell, said Australia was a commercially attractive market which offered regular year-on-year opportunities with clients who were receptive to new and innovative technology, which is at the core of STATS’ offering.

He said: “Our BISEP double block and bleed isolation technology is a strong differentiator for Australian clients who are looking for solutions, particularly for high pressure systems.

“In addition to day-to-day business with the leading gas operators working in the gas distribution and transmission space, there is also continued large scale investment by the Majors in new fields, tie backs and other projects, offering us the opportunity to get involved in large isolation projects and subsequent growth potential.

“We are well established in the Australian energy sector and have an extensive track record of completed projects, so the next natural step was to strengthen our physical presence, and establishing a formal entity along with this significant investment is being widely welcomed by our customers and suppliers.

“Our well established policy is to invest in local infrastructure – both human and equipment and facilities – and if Covid-19 taught us anything, it was the value of being in-country and to be able to respond quickly to the crisis. This is what clients are looking for and expect, and this new facility and local expertise can only improve further our response times.”

Based in Kintore, near Aberdeen, STATS principal activity is the provision of pressurised pipeline isolation, hot tapping and plugging services to the global oil, gas and petrochemical industries.

STATS Group provides specialist engineering services for the maintenance, integrity and repair of oil, gas and petrochemical installations and infrastructure.

STATS have gained an excellent reputation for providing a responsive, client-centred approach combined with expertise and innovative products which enhance safety and environmental performance, reduce system or plant downtime, improve asset performance, and support decommissioning and abandonment.

The group operates from its headquarters in Kintore, Aberdeenshire in the UK; Edmonton, Canada; Houston, USA; Abu Dhabi, Oman and Qatar in the Middle East; and Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia.

Website: www.statsgroup.com

Pipeline technology specialist, STATS Group, has successfully completed the largest number of simultaneous pipeline isolation projects in its 23 year history.

During the 2021 summer shutdown season, STATS supported six separate Tecno Plug isolation deployments in the UK North Sea, on pipelines ranging from 20” to 36” in diameter. The projects were on critical pipeline systems on behalf of multiple clients, with the isolation periods ranging from 10 to 45 days.

Isolation activities were carried out onshore and offshore at various locations and included the use of STATS Remote Monitoring System, which allowed Tecno Plug isolation tools to be monitored continuously via satellite from STATS Remote Monitoring Centre in Kintore, Aberdeenshire.

A range of STATS Group’s Remote Tecno Plug Leak Test Modules, which were deployed in the recent North Sea summer shutdown campaign.

The satellite monitoring technology enables customers to reduce site Personnel on Board (POB) requirements on their oil and gas installations during breaking of containment activities, whilst still ensuring that the isolation status is continually monitored.

The majority of Tecno Plugs deployed as part of the shutdown campaigns incorporated Leak Test Modules, which allowed Operators to perform reinstatement testing of new valves and pipework without disturbing the integrity of line isolations.

Each isolation scope was carried out with design, manufacturing, testing and project support being provided locally from STATS Group’s Kintore headquarters. Factory Acceptance Testing was also live-streamed remotely to clients, ensuring the client had full participation and oversight during the testing phase, despite the logistical restrictions necessitated by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The summer shutdown period also saw a surge in demand for STATS Process Plant Solutions which supported both North Sea and international clients with the provision of vapour barrier and localised weld testing services, with many requirements being delivered in quick turnaround times, due to the inevitability of unforeseen scopes that appear.

In addition, STATS worked closely with multiple North Sea Operators in the manufacture and installation of its Topside Mechanical Pipe Connectors. These units were provided in sizes ranging from 2” to 20” as a safe and permanent cold-work solution, removing the associated risks of welding, and were installed on several key platform systems, including instrument air, diesel, and the larger of the units on flare systems.

STATS Group Sales Director, Ron James, said: “This has been our busiest period in terms of simultaneous isolation workscopes, but careful planning meant we were able to build and test in advance the necessary tools and equipment, so that everything was in place to be deployed during the optimum shutdown window.

“Our Remote Monitoring Centre means we are able to reduce the number of personnel on board an installation during the length of the shutdown - thereby offering cost savings to our clients, while maintaining the highest level of safety monitoring.”

STATS Group provides specialist engineering services for the maintenance, integrity and repair of oil, gas and petrochemical installations and infrastructure.

STATS have gained an excellent reputation for providing a responsive, client-centred approach combined with expertise and innovative products which enhance safety and environmental performance, reduce system or plant downtime, improve asset performance, and support decommissioning and abandonment.

The group operates from its headquarters in Kintore, Aberdeenshire in the UK; Edmonton, Canada; Houston, USA; Abu Dhabi, Oman and Qatar in the Middle East; and Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia.

Website: www.statsgroup.com