Pipelines in some form or other are the essential link between offshore oil and gas production facilities and the onshore users. Be they seabed, seabed trenched, interfield, onshore transport, or transport to offshore loading facilities, all operations are dependent on the effectiveness and integrity of the transmission pipeline. Fifteen years experience in the North Sea has seen in excess of 150 subsea oil and gas pipelines installed in the UK sector extending for a total length exceeding 4000 km. At the time of writing, no hazard or incident has arisen from these installations. An overview of the important technical issues that need to be considered to ensure safe design, installation, and operation of pipelines for North Sea service is presented.
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