The Pipeline Research Council International (PRCI) is a not-for-profit corporation comprised of 37 energy pipeline companies from around the world. The participating companies include 25 US and 12 non-US, including companies from Brazil, Canada, Europe and Saudi Arabia. There are 15 associate members from the US, Canada, Mexico, Japan and Australia.

Originally established in 1952 as the Pipeline Research Committee by 15 pipeline companies, the organisation was to address the problem of long-running brittle fractures in natural gas transmission pipelines. The problem was solved within two years – demonstrating the benefits of industry collaboration and the leveraging of voluntary funding.

Since then, the PRCI has increasingly focused on near-term integrity and reliability solutions to design and operating problems, and realising the opportunities that an industry-managed program generates.

In turn, as the Association’s research has broadened, so has its membership – with an increasing focus on oil and petroleum products pipelines.

PRCI President George Tenley says “In today’s market, PRCI is the conduit by which research contractors and the industry’s technical representatives target the critical technical needs of oil and gas pipelines.”

How PRCI works

The PRCI is governed by a Boardof Directors, comprised of one voting member from each pipeline member company. The nine-member Executive Committee of the Board develops policy and program recommendations for the Board and provides oversight of the technical committees.

Program execution and management are the responsibility of six technical committees that develop research road maps and provide strategic direction to ensure timely outcomes.

Project teams, comprised of representatives of the companies that fund the project, manage the technology programs and the individual projects within these programs. The teams work directly with technology and research firms, service providers and key industry suppliers to execute contract work scopes that target research deliverables that are responsive to the business and operating needs of PRCI member companies.

Funding pipeline research

The majority of funding for PRCI’s technology program comes from its pipeline member companies and associate members through their annual subscriptions.

Funding for the PRCI technology development program is augmented through: supplemental funding of member companies, associate members and technical program associate members; and, co-founding from non-member pipeline companies, equipment manufacturers, vendors, research development firms, and agencies of the United States Federal Government, most notably the Departments of Transportation and Energy.

2009 technical program

PRCI’s 2009 technical program will focus on the following topics:

• Corrosion
• Design, materials and construction
• Operations and integrity
• Measurement
• Compressor and pump stations
• Underground storage

Participation in PRCI benefits those who are fundamental to both the development of research and its application. Benefits include:

• A professional research management infrastructure;
• A highly leveraged research investment;
• Earliest access to technology;
• The opportunity to expand the knowledge base – of the industry, the company, the employee;
• Enhancing the credibility of the member and the industry through a commitment to planning for future system integrity and reliability; and
• Providing a forum for addressing unique, time-sensitive problems and a means to avoid duplicate efforts.