ARLINGTON, Va., Sept. 29, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) -- Pipeline Research Council International, Inc., (PRCI), today announced its 2007 research program with a continuing emphasis on the integrity and reliability of energy pipelines and related facilities. The research program reflects total estimated funding of $16 million comprised of member funding and co-funding from governmental and non-governmental sources.
The 2007 program continues a five-year trend of increasing research spending by PRCI's member companies, and is more than 20% higher than the 2005 program. The new research investment for 2007 will bring the total amount of research in which PRCI currently is engaged to more than $22 million allocated to more than 200 projects. In addition to adopting its annual research program, the PRCI Board also elected a new leadership team. Current Chairman Lee M. Stewart, senior vice president for Gas Operations at Southern California Gas Company was re-elected to a one-year term. Arthur D. Meyer, senior vice president for Major Projects at Enbridge Pipelines was elected Vice Chairman, and next year he will succeed Stewart as Chairman. A new Executive Committee was also elected, including:
-- Jeffrey B. Schulze, director of Compression for Duke Energy Gas
Transmission
-- T.S. (Scott) Collier, Pipeline Safety & Integrity Management team
leader, Columbia Gas Transmission Corp.
-- Peter J. Roberts, Gas Network Investment manager, National Grid
(U.K.)
-- R.A. (Alan) Englehart, vice president, Operations & Engineering,
Texas Gas Transmission, LLC
-- Eric A. Gustafson, senior vice president for Operations &
Technology, Buckeye Partners, L.P.
-- Jeffrey A. Wenzell, director of Engineering, Explorer Pipeline Co.
-- Eric E. Thomas, director of Engineering, Southern Natural Gas Co.
In announcing the 2007 program and the new leadership team, PRCI Chairman Lee Stewart said, "This program continues a 54-year tradition of key companies in this industry coming together to pool their ideas, needs, and resources to address the most pressing integrity and reliability issues faced by pipeline operators around the world." In noting the value of industry collaboration in an era of great change and tight operating budgets, Stewart said, "The issues we address in this program are common to all pipeline operators in varying degrees so it just makes sense to join together to get the most out of our research investment. In a very real sense, PRCI serves as a surrogate for the entire industry worldwide both in terms of what needs to be done and how it can be applied."
PRCI President George Tenley stated, "In a time when the overall trend in research funding is declining, the industry's commitment to research is increasing, both in terms of resources and in leadership; and, it is leadership that will ultimately assure the sustainability of the collaboration. The success PRCI has achieved throughout its history has been a direct result of the imagination, intelligence, and commitment of the remarkable men and women who define this industry. It is on this base, and working with some of the world's leading research firms and universities, that we will produce the value from the 2007 program that will benefit the entire industry and the public it serves."
To learn more about PRCI and view the 2007 research program, visit the PRCI website at: http://www.prci-inc.com/index.php5?lvl=IssuesVote (Please note that the website is in the final stages of being redesigned and improved.)
PRCI is a not-for-profit corporation comprised of 34 energy pipeline operating companies located in Canada, the U.S., Europe, the Middle East, and South America. Augmenting the pipeline membership are 14 associate members drawn from companies in Canada, the U.S., and Mexico that serve the industry as pipe and equipment manufacturers, service providers, and vendors.
Through their annual contributions, PRCI members support a growing and sustainable research portfolio that focuses on identifying, assessing, managing, and preventing where feasible the threats to system integrity and reliability. Key focus areas for the 2007 program include: outside force damage (e.g., excavation damage and geotechnical threats such as landslides and erosion); internal and external corrosion; pipeline inspection; risk-based design; emission controls for legacy compressor engines; metering and measurement reliability; and continuing the broad Department of Energy/Industry Consortium on underground gas storage.