In the first quarter of 2022, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approved three projects intended to increase U.S. natural gas exports via pipeline and as liquefied natural gas (LNG).

The United States and many other countries have set goals to reach carbon neutrality by 2050 or sooner. To achieve this end, entire economies will need to be decarbonized.

There is increased pressure for pipeline operators to improve efficiencies, reliability and safety. One way these demands can be achieved, which is widely regarded as the way forward, is digitalization – whereby digital technologies seamlessly connect to advance processes throughout an organization.

Maintaining safe, reliable and profitable pipeline operations requires a high degree of trust. This is especially true for remote users who must have faith that the conditions are safe and that the person or device requesting the operation has authorization to do so.

When a small group of pipeline operators at a conference realized they were each experiencing brittle cracks in their pipelines, they also realized the power of collaboration. Within two short years of pooling resources and research, a solution presented itself to end the decades-long issue.