New regulations to improve oil and gas safety approved

The Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) has approved nine (9) new standards for the oil and gas industry.

Kebs Managing Director Bernard Njiraini said the new standards aim to ensure that equipment and structures being used are reliable and safe

“These Standards have been developed in collaboration with the industry, relevant stakeholders in line with the international best practices, to ensure that equipment and structures being used are reliable and safe” said, Lt Col (Rtd.) Bernard Njiraini, Managing Director, KEBS.

These standards establish requirements for mechanical designs, material selection, testing and identification of corrosion mechanisms.

The standards shall be useful to Tullow Kenya and other multinational oil companies involved in the storage, transportation, exploration and production of petroleum products.

The standards will also ensure that equipment brought in the country in this sector is of specified quality guaranteeing reliability and safety.

The new standards approved are;

• KS ISO 13680:2011 Corrosion resistant alloy seamless tubes for use as casing, tubing and coupling stock – Technical delivery conditions
• KS ISO 14691:2008 Flexible couplings for mechanical power transmission – General purpose application
• KS ISO 10441:2007 Flexible couplings for mechanical power transmission – Special purpose application
• KS ISO 13691:2001 High speed special purpose gear units
• KS ISO 12211:2012 Spiral plate heat exchangers 6. KS ISO 21457:2010 Materials selection and corrosion control for oil and gas production systems
• KS ISO 21329:2004 Pipeline transportation systems- Test procedure for mechanical connectors
• KS ISO 13626:2003 Drilling and well servicing structures
• KS ISO 27627:2014 Aluminium alloy drill pipe thread connection gauging