What is Corrosion Costing the pipeline industry?

According to a report by NACE and CC Technologies appropriately titled "Corrosion Costs US Transmission Pipelines as much as $8.6 Billion/Year" the cost of corrosion is estimated at between $5.4billion and $8.5 Billion per year.  They take a more detailed look at this in another related study called "Gas and Liquid Transmission Pipelines"  They estimate the five year cost at around $35 Billion for Pipeline Maintenance, including inline tool inspections and direct assessment digs.  A study conducted by Nace entitled "Corrosion Costs and Preventative Strategies" puts the figure for Corrosion for all industries at $276 Billion dollars per year in the US alone.  According to the NACE report "The average annual corrosion-related cost is estimated at $7 billion to monitor, replace, and maintain these assets. The corrosion-related cost of operation and maintenance makes up 80% of this cost."

With the replacement value of the pipeline system in the US estimated at more than $540 Billion there are a lot of good reasons to make maintenance and prevention a high priority.  Now more than ever it is critical that Pipeline Operators utilize the latest Pipeline Assessment and Management tools available in order to maximze both the life expectancy of in service pipelines and the degree of safety with which they operate.

The subject of a talk entitled "Regulatory Developments for Pipeline Record Keeping" , delivered recently by W.R. (Bill) Byrd at the 2011 POD's user's conference really caught my attention and I think raises an interesting question;  What are you doing with all that data? Every year Pipeline operators run ILI tools to detect and measure corrosion, dents and other anomalies.  They collect copious amounts of data and conduct mitigation activities in an effort meet regulations and maintain the integrity of their pipeline system.  If you are a pipleline engineer responsible for the pipeline integrity maintenance program of a liquid or gas pipeline it's critical that you ask this question.  Are you systematically collecting, categorizing and maintaining your pipeline integrity data in a way that, according to PHMSA, "
shall
 be 
traceable, 
verifiable, and
 complete.”

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