New Training and Technical Guidance on Petroleum Measurement

Measurement of the quantity and quality of petroleum and its products is vital for accurate allocation, custody transfer and fiscal purposes, stock control and loss prevention. The Energy Institute (EI)'s (UK) Hydrocarbon Management Committee (HMC) has developed new online training and good practice guidance to support greater understanding in this field. This new resource, Online training for hydrocarbon management has been designed to improve knowledge of these issues across various parts of the industry.

Given the international focus of hydrocarbon management, there is a clear need to standardise and align processes, to inform industry and to promote consistent and accurate measurement of the quantity and quality of products at various points along the supply chain. The training is broken down into a series of modules to introduce the key elements of hydrocarbon management to those who are relatively new to the topic or who simply wish to refresh their knowledge. This project has been devised by the EI’s Hydrocarbon Management Committee (HMC), in conjunction with IDESS Interactive Technologies Inc and SGS.

The first two modules in the training resource are now available: 

Petroleum measurement (for marine cargo inspection) covers marine cargo measurements and matches the requirements of the IFIA Inspector Certification Programme. This includes the safety, sampling, testing and calculation procedures associated with hydrocarbon management.

LNG operations (sea transport) provides a solid background to those involved in handling marine LNG cargoes, covering the product properties and measurements and also vessel operations and load and discharge procedures.

HMC guidance covers all aspects of petroleum measurement from production allocation through to transportation and refining. Other recent EI technical publications cover general terms and conditions for the sale and purchase of crude oil, cleaning of tanks in marine tank vessels carrying petroleum or refined products, and procedures for cargo inspections for crude oil, products and liquefied petroleum gas.