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Global Pipeline Monthly: the oil and gas pipeline industry's premier source
of up-to-date news and technical information, provided by Pipeline World in
association with Alexander's Gas & Oil Connections.
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Why join an organization?
Many readers of this may be members of the UK-based Pipeline Industries Guild.
Probably well over half are members of one or other (or a number)
of the major engineering institutions, such as the Institution of
Civil Engineers, the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental
Management, and so on. Others, or even the same ones, will also
be members of the UKSTT (or another country?s Society for Trenchless
Technology), the Pipe Jacking Association, the Pigging Products
and Services Association, IPLOCA, the Institution of Water Officers,
or another of many similar organizations in the UK and world-wide.
The business of joining industry-based groups is booming.
- Why do so many of us bother to join so many organizations?
- Why do so many organizations exist with apparently very similar purposes, let alone titles?
In one sense,
the answers to these questions are similar and simple: to provide
opportunities for individuals to network with their peer group and,
ultimately, to obtain self-aggrandisement and promotion in their
chosen career. As people are undoubtedly gregarious, they may also
obtain comfort and security from aligning themselves with others
in their industry sector, putting aside the fact that the ?others?
may be competitors.
On another level,
the answers to these questions are more challenging, particularly
to the organizations themselves.
People become
members and pay their subscriptions in order to receive either a
service, or an acknowledgement of status, or both. Traditionally,
a number of the major UK-based engineering institutions have monitored
their professions (from their Victoria or Great George Street addresses
in London), and sought to uphold standards of those practising civil,
mechanical, electrical, or structural engineering. To younger members,
this role has often been seen as conservative and demonstrative
of an unwillingness to accept change of any type - whether within
the institution itself, or within the discipline it represents.
However, membership
of an engineering institution continues to be a sought-after proof
of achievement and status, particularly relevant to younger engineers
in the highly-competitive international job market.
After the initial
hurdle of professional membership has been overcome, it is a regrettable
fact that the importance of the institution in the eyes of the majority
of its members begins to fade, provided they keep their annual subscriptions
up-to-date. Whilst acknowledging the institutions? importance in
maintaining high standards within the professional disciplines they
represent, members find that the institutions? roles as forward-thinking
standard-bearers and lobbyists on behalf of the engineering professions
are often well concealed.
The plethora
of secondary organizations and associations has grown up partly
as a consequence of this, and partly to satisfy the equivalent needs
of those to whom professional membership is not available. The Pipeline
Industries Guild is a typical association of this type, having among
its members a wide range of companies and individuals, all of whom
have as a common bond their involvement in construction and operation
of pipelines of all types.
When asked,
the majority of members will give as their main reason for joining
the Guild (or the many other similar organizations) the ability
to ?network? and to maintain informal contacts with clients, suppliers,
and others in their industry. This, however, provides the paradox
which is at the heart of the organization?s future success: how
can this ability to network be quantified, and how can it be related
to membership charges and benefits?
While the reputation
of a well-run and influential association should precede it, it
is nevertheless necessary for some tangible benefits to be supplied
to the membership in order to maintain their interest, to justify
their membership fees, and to keep the association alive in the
minds of the membership. Such benefits are often in the form of
publications; in the Pipeline Industries Guild?s case, members receive
copies of this journal, a regular and less-formal newsletter, and
the annual yearbook, renamed this year as the Pipeline Industry
Directory. The Guild should also be able to provide its members
with the less-tangible, though arguably more-beneficial, advantages
of influencing industry regulators, promoting pipelines within government
organizations world-wide, and providing a single source of information
for problem solving. Within the Guild, these issues are kept constantly
under review; doubtless similar organizations follow the same philosophies.
The Pipeline
Industries Guild is an association with general interests across
the whole industry. An alternative organization is characterized
by the Pigging Products & Services Association (PPSA), whose
members? interests focus directly on issues dealing with pipeline
pigging. In common with the Guild, the PPSA also has various tiers
of membership, the two most populated being individual and corporate.
Also in common with the Guild, the PPSA publishes a regular newsletter
(Pigging Industry News). Another of the benefits the Association
provides to its members and others is its technical advisory service:
not only can problems to do with pigging be solved, and advice on
which procedure to use offered, but project managers can have rapid
access to all the suppliers of services or products, thus avoiding
the costs of a considerable amounts of research and information-gathering
when tenders are being prepared.
The PPSA has
also recently negotiated a special rate for its individual members
to use the web-based pigging reference source at http://www.pigsource.com.
This site provides a unique and rapid reference to over 400 conference
papers and two pigging-industry textbooks, and provides an invaluable
source of information to anyone with a pigging problem. Individual
PPSA members obtain use of the site at no extra cost; non-members
have to pay a fee for an annual password, in common with many similar
web sites.
As can be seen,
the PPSA works hard to maintain the interests of its membership,
and to justify their support. Associations such as this will only
prosper and survive by continuously reviewing their structure and
what they provide. It is very easy for any of us as individuals
not to be bothered to renew a membership when the form arrives each
January; every association has to be prepared regularly to earn
its membership.
So, why join
an industry organization? Career advancement and successful business
links are probably the two main reasons, followed by simplified
access to industry information and associated benefits. Pipes
& Pipelines International is a strong supporter of the aims
and intentions of both the associations mentioned above, and encourages
readers to investigate both further. Comprehensive information on
both is available on their web sites (at www. pipeguild.co.uk, and
www. piggingasssnppsa.com), as well as by phone; both are headquartered
in the UK, the PIG at (+44) 020 7235 7938, and the PPSA at (+44)
01235 760597.
The Complete Guide to International Gas Pipelines
This is the
latest product from Energy Intelligence Research?s Washington, US,-based
research division. The 500+ page book, based on work originally
undertaken for the Japan National Oil Co, summarizes 55 cross-border
gas pipelines either in operation or proposed throughout the world,
together with around 60 inter-state gas pipelines in the US and
Canada. Where possible, data is provided on the pipeline?s technical
specifications, ownership and operator details, the market environment
in which it operates, the local, regional, and geopolitical constraints
it faces, and the current status of the line.
It is a virtually
impossible task to gather completely-comprehensive technical data
on all the worlds? gas (or oil) pipelines, let alone comprehensive
data on some of the other categories EIR has bravely embarked on
supplying. Nevertheless, this publications provides an invaluable
single and unique source for such data as is available, which EIR?s
researchers have summarized in a relatively user-friendly fashion.
The Guide is therefore highly-recommended to all involved
with cross-border pipeline projects and planning. As well as tabular
data, there are comprehensive articles (?case studies?) on the majority
of the pipelines and projects included in the Guide, which
give an interesting insight into the difficulties often associated
with pipelines of this nature.
The Complete guide to international gas pipelines is available from EIR in
Washington, DC, US, tel: (+1) 202 662 0700; further details can be found at
http://www.energyintel.com.
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Site Updated:
15-jun-2005
jp
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Many readers of this may be members of the UK-based
Pipeline Industries Guild. Probably well over half are members of one
or other (or a number) of the major engineering institutions...
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