Emergency repair systems reinforce the future of subsea pipelines
By Geronimo Rodriguez, Oil States
Bolstering offshore oil and gas pipeline projects ensures communities and economies around the world will have the energy they need as demand surges globally. With offshore engineering, procurement, construction and installation (EPCI) developments on the rise in 2025, emergency repair systems will be an essential technology to support the safe, reliable transportation of energy to shore.
Understanding that operational downtime and failure are not an option for critical energy infrastructure, offshore companies must put permanent solutions in place as an additional safety barrier. An emergency pipeline repair system (EPRS) and associated subsea repair technologies minimize safety, environmental and economic risks.
Futureproofing offshore projects
As plans get underway to expand construction and new technology for offshore developments, a dependable EPRS must be a major consideration to provide foundational support for managing the safety, integrity and reliability of pipeline systems.
The Oil States EPRS is a field-ready, futureproofing tool that is already safeguarding critical subsea pipelines in key offshore regions like the Gulf of Mexico and Middle East.
With hardware designed as a permanent fixture, such technology helps ensure the necessary level of readiness to respond to an emergency scenario in real time. The EPRS also is used as a preventative maintenance technology to optimize uptime reliability for mature gas wells.
While the likelihood of deploying an EPRS for an incident is significantly low, having this system available as a contingency solution is a wise investment to protect assets, investments and the environment from a potentially catastrophic event. Without an EPRS system on standby, it could take several months to manufacture the tools necessary to address an event.
Fast emergency response and repair
A pipeline integrity breach and subsequent damage can result in significant and costly operational and environmental consequences. Operators must be equipped to act quickly during a pipeline emergency, with immediate access to spare components and repair solutions. In the event that damage takes a subsea pipeline out of service, a complete package of field-proven technology can be quickly accessed to perform repairs with rapid success.
Taking proactive measures during the EPCI phase to have an EPRS on standby locally is vital to minimize downtime risk and disruption. Operators must understand which of their most valuable pipelines can’t be down for an extended period and outfit those pipelines with an EPRS. If a pipeline goes offline and an EPRS is in place, operational downtime could be reduced from the standard 12 to 16 months it may take to manufacture new hardware to within weeks, depending on site conditions.
Technologies, such as misalignment connectors, flanges, mechanical pipe end connectors and repair clamps, can help optimize pipeline repairs. Highly specialized subsea pipeline system design and manufacturing capabilities support subsea pipeline construction, repair and expansion projects.
Oil States also offers a long-term annual maintenance package where a team may be mobilized to the storage site to facilitate this process, and a technical team is readily available to promptly field any questions. The purpose of this review is to ensure the hardware is always ready for an installation campaign.
Fail-safe solutions for operational success
As operators expand energy infrastructure in offshore bright spots, reinforcing operations with emergency repair technologies brings peace of mind that pipelines will stay secure and, in a worst-case scenario, can rapidly return to operation.
Investing in the technology operators hope they may never need to use provides a necessary and fail-safe solution for pipeline integrity and promotes sustainable subsea progress for 2025 and beyond.
