Issues for Compressor Station Operators: Year 2000 and Beyond

摘要

There is a significant set of issues that pipeline compressor station operators face on the way to the 30 Tcf market. However, getting to the point where there is adequate compression service economically available to meet rapidly changing market demands, where all of the equipment is in full compliance with environmental regulations, and where compression facilities are adequately staffed and maintained will be neither easy nor inexpensive. Continued innovation is a key element in "getting there from here" and the seemingly inexorable long-term trend of replacing labor with capital as a means to increase system productivity will continue only if there is adequate reinvestment in examining new ways to conduct business, in developing new and improved equipment, in implementing better techniques, and in developing a more highly trained workforce to operate the more complex systems of the future.