Subsea pipelines are required to transport gas over long distances to shore.

Subsea pipeline collaboration cluster

The Subsea Pipeline Collaboration Cluster combines the research capabilities of six universities and the Wealth from Oceans Flagship to design new pipelines for transporting offshore hydrocarbon resources.

• 1 July 2008 | Updated 14 October 2011

• Cluster outcomes
• Partners
• Resources

The Subsea Pipeline Collaboration Cluster, through the support of the National Research Flagship Collaboration Fund, will address challenges in the design and operation of subsea pipelines to provide access to stranded offshore oil and gas reserves.

The research program spans the spectrum of pipeline design, from environmental and structural aspects to reliability assessment and monitoring.

Cluster outcomes

The cluster brings together a diverse range of research capabilities to deliver an in-depth scientific understanding of the key parameters involved in subsea pipeline:

• design
• construction
• long-term operation
• monitoring.

This will provide a technical basis for the design of pipelines for any new offshore field, which contrasts with the current case-by-case approach.

This should significantly reduce costs and uncertainties for future pipeline design projects, with particular relevance to remote offshore locations around Australia.

Partners

The cluster combines the capabilities of:

• The University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia 
• Curtin University of Technology, Perth, Western Australia 
• The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland 
• Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria
• The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales
• Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia
• CSIRO through the Wealth from Oceans Flagship.

Resources

As part of the A$305 million provided over seven years by the Australian Government to the National Research Flagships, A$97 million was allocated specifically to enhance collaboration between CSIRO, Australian universities and other publicly funded research agencies.

The Australian Government’s budget announcement in 2007 provided additional resources for the fund.

The Subsea Pipeline Collaboration Cluster contributes to the Wealth from Oceans Flagship program Ocean Based Industry Development and Growth – Blue GDP.

The Cluster consists of a A$3.6 million grant through the Flagship Collaboration Fund and in-kind contributions totalling A$7.4 million from the participating universities.

Learn more about the Wealth from Oceans Flagship.