Title: A review of onshore and offshore pipeline construction and decommissioning cost in the USA - part 1: specifications, cost estimation and onshore construction

Authors: Mark J. Kaiser

Addresses: Center for Energy Studies, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA, USA

Abstract: The cost to construct and decommission oil and gas pipelines varies widely between onshore and offshore regions as well as within each area, depending on numerous factors. The purpose of this review is to evaluate publicly available data sources for onshore and offshore pipeline installation and decommissioning activities in the USA. The activities and processes involved, factors that impact cost, cost statistics and limitations of analysis are presented for onshore and offshore pipeline installation and decommissioning. Similarities and differences between construction and decommissioning processes and the tradeoffs involved in design are described to better understand the cost differences that arise between projects. In the first part of a two-part review, an overview of pipeline manufacturing and API 5L specifications introduce relevant terminology and basic pipeline requirements, and a description of cost estimation procedures, normalisation, and data sources provides the evaluation framework. A description of onshore pipeline construction cost data and analysis concludes the paper. [Received: May 4, 2020; Accepted: June 3, 2020]

Keywords: benchmarking; cost statistics; offshore vs. onshore; pipeline construction; pipeline decommissioning; USA.

DOI: 10.1504/IJOGCT.2021.115798

International Journal of Oil, Gas and Coal Technology, 2021 Vol.27 No.3, pp.247 - 285

Received: 04 May 2020
Accepted: 03 Jun 2020
Published online: 23 Jun 2021 *

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