Filling the Oil and Gas Industry Labor Gap

Skilled MATCOR technicians are available for short-, medium- or long-term engagements.

Labor shortages are right up there with supply chain challenges for businesses everywhere. Unfortunately, the oil and gas industry is front and center in the conversation about chronic labor challenges.

Several factors are at play.

Oil and Gas: A Less Popular Career Choice

Boom-and-bust cycles are endemic to the oil and gas business. This, along with the persistent demonizing of the industry in the media, has resulted in the oil and gas industry becoming much less desirable to potential talent entering the workforce.

In fact, only 2 percent of US College graduates consider the oil and gas industry their top choice for employment. It is no surprise that the industry struggles to compete for talent with other more appealing high tech, pharmaceutical and green energy sector industries for scarce technical talent.

Demographics

Skilled laborers are retiring from the oil and gas industry at a faster rate than ever before. This “Baby Boomer Brain Drain”, where experienced, skilled labor leaves the workplace faster than younger, less experienced workers are entering the workplace, continues to have a profound impact on midstream companies.

Regulatory Issues

Finally, the advent of the PHMSA Mega Rule places additional regulatory scrutiny on the oil and gas industry. As a result, companies will see their scarce technical labor resources stretched even further.

MATCOR’s Answer to the Oil and Gas Industry Labor Shortage: Corrosion Technicians for Hire

MATCOR is here to help. As a service provider we are constantly bringing in and developing technical talent. Our pipeline of technicians are available to fill the gaps.

Short-, medium- or long-term engagements enable our technicians to provide the additional labor needed to keep your business moving.

Additionally, MATCOR’s engineering team can design and install remote monitoring systems. This automates the data collection required for regulatory compliance and reduces the strain on local corrosion technicians.


For information on hiring MATCOR skilled technicians or our engineering services, please contact us at the link below, or reach out to your local MATCOR account manager.

Contact a Corrosion Expert

The Impact of AC Corrosion Mitigation Criteria on the Design and Operation of Cathodic Protection Systems

MATCOR’s Ted Huck presented a virtual keynote at CORCON 2021. Over 300 corrosion industry professionals connected at the NACE Gateway India Section’s 2021 Virtual CorCon Conference. The primary discussion was around the impact of AC Corrosion Mitigation criteria on the design and operation of cathodic protection systems.

Historically, DC cathodic protection systems are designed to meet specific polarization requirements. The CP system delivers sufficient current to assure that the entire length of the pipeline meets the polarization levels required. Little consideration is given to DC current density, other than to provide a guideline for sizing the CP system.

The actual operation of the CP system is dictated by the amount of current required to polarize the pipeline.

In practice, this often results in operating the CP system by pushing enough current to properly polarize the pipeline to the farthest distance possible from the CP station. Testing is entirely based on these polarization levels. This includes confirmation testing via close interval potential surveys (CIS).

However, the latest NACE specifications on AC Interference and Mitigation (SP 21424-2018) incorporates DC current density as a key parameter. Historically this was not a consideration for the operation of a pipeline’s cathodic protection system.

The AC Mitigation criteria has a stringent requirement if the system’s DC current density is not monitored and controlled. However, if the pipeline’s CP system current density is both monitored and controlled, the requirement is less stringent.

This linking of AC Mitigation Criteria to a DC current density value (that historically has never held any significance) represents a significant change in how CP systems must be designed, monitored, and controlled.


For information about MATCOR AC mitigation solutions, please contact us at the link below, or reach out to your local MATCOR account manager.

Contact a Corrosion Expert
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