Discussion on design standards of hydrostatic testing of gathering pipelines in oversea oil and gas fields

Energy cooperation is the forerunner and main engine of the Belt and Road Initiative. In the past ten years, hundreds of oil and gas cooperation projects have been operated in the countries along the Belt and Road and other countries by Chinese petroleum companies, with fruitful results achieved. The technical service and engineering construction is an important part of the cooperation. As the most important content for construction of oil and gas pipeline, hydrostatic testing is a most common method for verification of pipeline integrity. Based on the design experience of gathering pipelines in the oil and gas fields of the cooperation projects in Middle East and Africa, the 13 hydrostatic testing standards of the international organizations and petroleum corporations such as ASME, API, ISO, BSI, IPS, Saudi Aramco, ADNOC, Shell, Total and BP were sorted out, and the requirements for the test pressure and pressure holding time of the water quality test, strength test and tightness test were compared and analyzed. The research results are expected to provide reference for the design and construction of gathering pipelines in oversea oil and gas fields.