Flexibility to Generate Added Value

Rociel Barrera, Director General of Diablo Pipeline Solutions, says this presents an opportunity for those companies with the experience to install the supporting infrastructure. “The government’s goal is very aggressive and the infrastructure is not prepared to support it,” he says. “To manage the production increase, the entire value chain has to work together for the benefit of the industry and support the government’s plans to create a stronger country.”

The challenge is great but Barrera says Diablo Pipeline Solutions, a pipeline maintenance company with more than 25 years of experience in the Mexican market offering inspection, cleaning and repairing services, has the expertise to lend added value to the government. “At Diablo Pipeline Solutions, we are preparing for the opportunities arising in the midstream sector by being flexible in our structure and operations. We are a specialized company and are well-known in the sector,” he points out.

Capitalizing on the fact that the company has played a leading role in Mexico’s midstream sector, Barrera explains that open lines of communication are the key to creating a stronger midstream sector. “Diablo Pipeline Solutions has played a leading role in the Mexican industry for over 25 years, over which it has gotten to know all of the main players in the midstream segment, therefore allowing it to lead the agenda for the segment’s development and to face the challenges related to the infrastructure needs in the coming years,” he says. “We have had several meetings with almost all of the most important players in the Mexican oil and gas midstream segment.”

The fact that Mexico’s midstream infrastructure needs not just a rehabilitation but a full expansion to make it capable of handling the expected increase in production is recognized by most entities in the industry. “The objectives that the industry is setting for the coming years equate to the rescue of the oil and gas industry in Mexico,” Barrera says. “At Diablo Pipeline Solutions we see this as a promising future that will require our best technologies and capabilities.” Diablo Pipeline Solutions offers a wide range of services related to the maintenance and inspection of pipelines and during the course of its operations in Mexico it has inspected over 70,000km of pipelines.

Becoming a key player in the industry requires adoption of best practices and new technologies, says Barrera. “To become one of the main maintenance and inspection service companies in the industry we have gathered some of the best technologies from all over the world and brought them to Mexico,” he says. An example is the Pipeline Cleanliness Assessment Tool (PECAT), which, after a slow start in Mexico, became very successful. “We introduced PECAT into the Mexican market two years ago,” he says. “It was not an easy technology to introduce due to its novelty but now two of the biggest pipeline operators in Mexico, IEnova and TransCanada, are including it in the specifications they require for the installation of their pipelines.”

PECAT has become essential technology for those two clients due to the fact that it can accurately measure the cleanliness of the pipe. Barrera says this is very important in Mexico as the transported gas emits powders that can get stuck and accumulate inside, therefore affecting its ability to transport the gas or even eroding the pipeline itself. “With PECAT installed in the pipeline, clients can understand what is happening inside at all times and better plan preventive maintenance operations to avoid costlier and time-consuming reactive maintenance.”

Barrera adds that technology is not enough to bring Mexican infrastructure up to the required quality and safety levels. He says culture, collaboration and the way of doing business in Mexico also must be factored into the equation. “We believe that companies can do business while also supporting the new administration in reaching its goals related to the oil and gas industry.” One of the main ways Barrera hopes to support the government is through the implementation of a preventive maintenance culture. “Companies in Mexico have worked based on a corrective maintenance culture for too long and now it is up to companies like ours to bring preventive culture to the table.”