The American Petroleum Institute (API) has published a new recommended practice (RP) for structural integrity management, according to a press release. The new guidelines emphasize the importance of understanding topside structural integrity in order to maintain the offshore structures used in oil and natural gas drilling and production operations. Fugro’s online monitoring (OLM) instrumentation package is helping asset owners to evaluate structural integrity as part of these new recommendations.

The evaluation of structural integrity is central to the RP for Structural Integrity Management of Fixed Offshore Platforms (RP 2SIM), which stresses the need for inspections above and below the waterline, as well as assessment, risk reduction, mitigation planning and decommissioning. Storm damage and aging assets are important reasons for understanding topside integrity. These are both particularly relevant in the Gulf of Mexico, where many fixed offshore platforms are exposed to extreme weather conditions including hurricanes.

The use of Fugro’s OLM system is consistent with API RP 2SIM. It is already playing an effective role in evaluating structural integrity by monitoring the natural frequencies of a number of platforms, including aging and storm-damaged assets.