Internal Corrosion Failures: Are we Learning from the Past?

Internal corrosion is a continuing cause of oil and gas pipeline degradation, leading to leaks and catastrophic failures. Although methods for managing internal corrosion are well established, many pipeline operators have experienced repeated internal corrosion incidents, suggesting that opportunities likely exist for continuous improvement. Learning from past incidents is one way to avoid having history repeat itself. Three levels of analysis that can be used for diagnosing corrosion incidents are determining the immediate or direct cause, identifying the basic or contributing causes, and analyzing the root causes from a management systems perspective. Pipeline operators can use these analyses to learn from internal corrosion incidents and identify steps for continuous improvement of internal corrosion management programs.