Book 1: Chapter 4 Control of the Oil Movements

Objectives After reading the chapter and reviewing the materials presented the students will be able to: Understand making up shipments Identify forecasting of crude oil movements Describe crude oil scheduling Explain dispatching Classify communications Examine the accounting function

Making Up Shipments Before a shipment of crude oil reaches the pipeline and comes under the control of the dispatching office, it has to be accumulated and scheduled with a pipeline scheduler. On average, fifty wells in the United States will produce about 1,000 barrels of oil per day. A typical modern 20 inch pipeline will have a capacity of about 200,000 barrels per day. The shipment is scheduled by the pipeline scheduler to leave a stated point of origin on a stated date and to be delivered to a destination point on a stated date. Tank farms are being used increasingly to store future supplies of crude oil and to guarantee the refiner a continuous working supply.

Forecasting Crude Oil Movements When allowable rates of production are set for oil wells, shippers estimate the space requirements for the following months and make contact with the pipeline schedulers to arrange for pipeline shipping space to the markets. Just as a railway freight shipment may travel on more than one railroad in transit, so a shipment of crude oil may travel on more than one pipeline system between origin and destination of the shipment. At division or transfer points, tank storage must be available to handle these operations.

Crude Oil Scheduling The supply coordinator or scheduler canvasses the shippers on approximately the 25 th of the month for the next month’s pipeline schedules. After the shippers have indicated their respective supplies, sales, purchases, and requirements at destination, the monthly barrel-per- day pumping rates are developed. The sequencing of batches of oil to arrive at final destination or intermediate delivery points requires considerable skill on the part of the scheduler. Computers have been used to develop schedules. Schedules are normally developed for a one month period.

Dispatching The pipeline dispatcher is the person who sees that the schedule is completed in detail. The pipeline dispatcher is sometimes called a line operator, or oil movement controller. He has the controls to start and stop pump stations hundreds of miles away. One of the most important jobs of the dispatcher, along with the schedule, is his responsibility for the security of the lines. He constantly monitors line pressures, rates of flow, and receipts into and deliveries out of the line to assure that no major leaks or line breaks go undetected. The oil measurements group checks that the proper methods are habitually used by field personnel to measure the quality of oil by meters and tank gauges.

Communications Today telegraph (in the form of teletypewriters) telephone, and radio transmission all share in the field of supervisory control and data transmission. Good control of oil movement requires good communications. It must be in a form readily understood and timely to meet the needs of oil movement. Good control requires verification of information in many forms to avoid errors or confusion.

The Accounting Function The basic accounting document in pipelining is the run ticket. Every time custody of oil changes hands, a run ticket is made and signed by the receiver and the sender. The run ticket forms the basis for accounting of the oil, for paying taxes, and for paying the producer and royalty owners. Information received by the dispatcher may be assembled weekly for government agencies doing statistical studies and reports.

Summary Before a shipment of crude oil reaches the pipeline and comes under the control of the dispatching office, it has to be accumulated and scheduled with a pipeline scheduler. The shipment is scheduled by the pipeline scheduler to leave a stated point of origin on a stated date and to be delivered to a destination point on a stated date. On average, fifty wells in the United States will produce about 1,000 barrels of oil per day. A typical modern 20 inch pipeline will have a capacity of about 200,000 barrels per day. When allowable rates of production are set for oil wells, shippers estimate the space requirements for the following months and make contact with the pipeline schedulers to arrange for pipeline shipping space to the markets. The sequencing of batches of oil to arrive at final destination or intermediate delivery points requires considerable skill on the part of the scheduler. The pipeline dispatcher is the person who sees that the schedule is completed in detail. One of the most important jobs of the dispatcher, along with the schedule, is his responsibility for the security of the lines. He constantly monitors line pressures, rates of flow, and receipts into and deliveries out of the line to assure that no major leaks or line breaks go undetected. The oil measurements group checks that the proper methods are habitually used by field personnel to measure the quality of oil by meters and tank gauges. Today telegraph (in the form of teletypewriters) telephone, and radio transmission all share in the field of supervisory control and data transmission. The basic accounting document in pipelining is the run ticket. The run ticket forms the basis for accounting of the oil, for paying taxes, and for paying the producer and royalty owners.

Home Work 1. What is the job of the pipeline scheduler? 2. How does the dispatcher ensure the security of the oil pipelines? 3. What is the basic accounting document in pipelining?