President’s Message

Welcome to the 2010 edition of the APIA Year Book which I am sure you will find to be an invaluable reference for information on the pipeline industry, APIA and especially our wide cross-section of members who collectively provide a ‘one-stop shop’ servicing all aspects of the Australian pipeline industry.

The theme of the 2009 APIA Convention was “Pipelines – A Dynamic Approach to Australia’s Energy Needs” and the pipeline business has been, and will need to continue to be, dynamic to meet the changing demands that 2010 and the years ahead will bring. Thanks to the efforts of APIA, our politicians and the general public are increasingly coming to the realisation that an immediate shift toward gas-fired electricity generation is the most expedient way to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions without dramatic increases in the cost of power. Large scale renewable power and carbon capture, transportation and storage (CCTS) or even nuclear may meet our longer term requirements but require Government investment and time before they can become cost competitive. The pipeline industry will play an important role in providing the pipeline infrastructure to supply gas to new gas-fired power stations.

In the longer term and assuming that Australia shifts to renewable power and clean coal, pipelines will continue to play a major role. Renewable power requires gas-fired power generation to cover the times when the wind is not blowing or the sun is not shining. Coal-fired power stations with CCTS require gas pipelines for start-up and pipelines to transport the carbon dioxide to storage sites.

Not only are pipelines going to be the backbone of our emissions reduction in Australia but will also play a role in reducing the emissions of our Asian neighbours. The Australian coal seam gas (CSG) industry is on the cusp of a major expansion to feed a growing demand for LNG in Asia. In these countries, LNG is likely to fuel power stations in lieu of coal resulting in significant reductions in global emissions. A series of large diameter pipelines are proposed to transport gas from the CSG fields to the proposed LNG export plants in Queensland. This will be both a challenge and an opportunity for the pipeline industry, as large diameter pipelines of this type have not previously been constructed in Australia.

APIA has been at the centre of these major developments and will continue to be very busy with some of the key focus areas being:

• The education of the public and Australian policy makers in the benefits of natural gas in providing near term reductions in greenhouse gas emissions;
• The preparation of an APIA Code of Practice for the safe construction of coal seam gas gathering pipelines;
• The Energy Pipelines Co-operative Research Centre, which is being established following the dedicated efforts of the Research and Standards Committee in preparing a successful application to form the new Centre;
• Initiating the development of an engineering training program to define the competencies necessary for our pipeline engineers to rise to the challenges ahead; and,
• Promoting the Young Pipeliners Forum committees in each state to attract, retain and develop new people into the pipeline industry.

I am honoured to be leading APIA through this very exciting period and am confident that APIA will continue to play a leading role to address the challenges ahead for our members. Please take the time to familiarise yourself with this Year Book so as to benefit from the comprehensive and useful information contained herein.

Peter Cox
President