EAST WEST PETROLINE

Year Published: 1980s

Description: This film "East West Petroline" (1980s) was presented by the Cat Houston Joint Venture. It shows the East-West Pipeline, also known as the Petroline, a 746 miles (1,201 km)-long 48 inches (120 cm) pipeline that runs from the Abqaiq oil field in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia (near Bahrain and Qatar on the Persian Gulf coast) across the width of the Arabian Peninsula to the Red Sea. It was built during the Iran-Iraq war for Petromin. 0:00 Saudi Arabia, despite being a desert kingdom, has vast proven oil reserves that will fund its ambitious development program for generations. 1:52: The Cat Houston Joint Venture. The joint venture, under contract with Petroline (a division of Petromin), is building the western section of a huge pipeline across Saudi Arabia. Cat Houston's participation involved a $35 million capital outlay for equipment and worker camps. Cat is a Lebanese partnership (founded 1941) experienced in large-scale projects across North/West Africa, Pakistan, and the Middle East, including airports, roads, hospitals, and industrial complexes. Houston Contracting Company (founded 1937, merged with Sedco 1969) is an American pipeline contractor specializing in major gas transmission systems in the US, with expanding worldwide operations. 4:23: Petroline is a 750-mile, $1.6 billion project designed to carry crude oil from the Ghawar fields (Eastern Province) across the kingdom to the west. Initial daily output is 1.85 million barrels, with a forecast expansion to 2.35 million barrels. Cat Houston's first major task was preparing the right-of-way, which involved extensive blasting to cut through rock and mountains. This required drilling holes one meter apart and inserting dynamite charges with delay caps to create a ripple-effect explosion. 5:59. Cat Houston used top-class, often brand-new equipment, such as the Jetco ditcher. The Petroline route is 3,600 km shorter than the sea route around the Arabian Peninsula, providing significant economic justification through reduced transportation costs. Beyond cost savings, the project provides Saudi Arabia with a crude oil export terminal on the Red Sea, giving the kingdom export capabilities on both coasts, reducing tanker traffic in the Gulf, and allowing for greater flexibility in oil distribution. 7:35 After excavation, the next stage was to string the pipes. Huge sections, 48 inches in diameter and 24 meters long, were brought from Yanbu, stored in yards, and then driven, carefully unloaded, and strung along the side of the trench. 8:33 The pipe was laid in tension to prevent it from buckling when the oil begins to flow at a temperature of 80° C. The pipes were bent—a complex operation—and then welded together in 1 km sections, requiring high-order skills and a willingness to work in difficult conditions. All Petroline welds were 100% x-rayed. 11:06 After welding, the field joints were coated with fusion bonded epoxy coating and checked to ensure the work was properly done, all to prevent corrosion. 12:30 Before laying the pipe, the ditch had to be bedded with sand and loose earth. Giant side booms were used to lift and lay the pipe into the bedded trench. The final stage was backfilling the trench. 14:36. Cat Houston employed 1,200 workers. Close coordination with all sectors of Petroline was essential for the project's smooth operation. Speedy contact with Cat Houston's main office in Jeda was maintained using a twin-engined company plane. 16:15 Loops in the line are actually valves designed to check the oil flow during a station shutdown. Once laid, the line was tested by pumping specially treated salt water from the Red Sea through the pipe, with care taken not to contaminate freshwater wells. 16:56: The completion of Petroline allows large quantities of crude oil to be pumped from Abqaiq to Yanbu, where it is stored in a tank farm with an 11 million barrel holding capacity. The End.

Complete Record: This film "East West Petroline" (1980s) was presented by the Cat Houston Joint Venture. It shows the East-West Pipeline, also known as the Petroline, a 746 miles (1,201 km)-long 48 inches (120 cm) pipeline that runs from the Abqaiq oil field in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia (near Bahrain and Qatar on the Persian Gulf coast) across the width of the Arabian Peninsula to the Red Sea. It was built during the Iran-Iraq war for Petromin. 0:00 Saudi Arabia, despite being a desert kingdom, has vast proven oil reserves that will fund its ambitious development program for generations. 1:52: The Cat Houston Joint Venture. The joint venture, under contract with Petroline (a division of Petromin), is building the western section of a huge pipeline across Saudi Arabia. Cat Houston's participation involved a $35 million capital outlay for equipment and worker camps. Cat is a Lebanese partnership (founded 1941) experienced in large-scale projects across North/West Africa, Pakistan, and the Middle East, including airports, roads, hospitals, and industrial complexes. Houston Contracting Company (founded 1937, merged with Sedco 1969) is an American pipeline contractor specializing in major gas transmission systems in the US, with expanding worldwide operations. 4:23: Petroline is a 750-mile, $1.6 billion project designed to carry crude oil from the Ghawar fields (Eastern Province) across the kingdom to the west. Initial daily output is 1.85 million barrels, with a forecast expansion to 2.35 million barrels. Cat Houston's first major task was preparing the right-of-way, which involved extensive blasting to cut through rock and mountains. This required drilling holes one meter apart and inserting dynamite charges with delay caps to create a ripple-effect explosion. 5:59. Cat Houston used top-class, often brand-new equipment, such as the Jetco ditcher. The Petroline route is 3,600 km shorter than the sea route around the Arabian Peninsula, providing significant economic justification through reduced transportation costs. Beyond cost savings, the project provides Saudi Arabia with a crude oil export terminal on the Red Sea, giving the kingdom export capabilities on both coasts, reducing tanker traffic in the Gulf, and allowing for greater flexibility in oil distribution. 7:35 After excavation, the next stage was to string the pipes. Huge sections, 48 inches in diameter and 24 meters long, were brought from Yanbu, stored in yards, and then driven, carefully unloaded, and strung along the side of the trench. 8:33 The pipe was laid in tension to prevent it from buckling when the oil begins to flow at a temperature of 80° C. The pipes were bent—a complex operation—and then welded together in 1 km sections, requiring high-order skills and a willingness to work in difficult conditions. All Petroline welds were 100% x-rayed. 11:06 After welding, the field joints were coated with fusion bonded epoxy coating and checked to ensure the work was properly done, all to prevent corrosion. 12:30 Before laying the pipe, the ditch had to be bedded with sand and loose earth. Giant side booms were used to lift and lay the pipe into the bedded trench. The final stage was backfilling the trench. 14:36. Cat Houston employed 1,200 workers. Close coordination with all sectors of Petroline was essential for the project's smooth operation. Speedy contact with Cat Houston's main office in Jeda was maintained using a twin-engined company plane. 16:15 Loops in the line are actually valves designed to check the oil flow during a station shutdown. Once laid, the line was tested by pumping specially treated salt water from the Red Sea through the pipe, with care taken not to contaminate freshwater wells. 16:56: The completion of Petroline allows large quantities of crude oil to be pumped from Abqaiq to Yanbu, where it is stored in a tank farm with an 11 million barrel holding capacity. The End.

Transcription

[Music] [Applause] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Music] [Music] Wow. Wow. [Music] The desert kingdom of Saudi Arabia seems a barren, unproductive land. But under these towering mountains and hot desert sands, there lies vast proven oil reserves. Revenues from this precious commodity are more than sufficient to ensure Saudi Arabia's ambitious development program for generations to come. [Music] [Music] Participating in this development process is the cat Houston joint venture under contract with Petroline, a division of Petrain to build part of a huge pipeline across Saudi Arabia. Cat Houston undertook to build the western section of the line while another concern was contracted to build the eastern section. Cat Houston's participation involved a capital outlay of $35 million for equipment and the construction of workers camps as well as other essential items. CAT is a Lebanese limited partnership founded in 1941 which in the years since its inception has undertaken projects in North and West Africa, Pakistan, Somalia and the Middle East. From the 1950s, it has continued to participate in the development of the oil industry in the Middle East and also in the subsequent economic growth of the developing countries of the region. CAT has built international airports and roads, power stations, cement plants, hotels, hospitals, schools, industrial complexes and offices, and with its subsidiary, Mothercat Limited, has been responsible for mechanical, electrical, and pipeline work of major size and complexity. Houston Contracting Company, the other half of the partnership, began as a pipeline contractor in 1937 and merged with Sedco, one of the world's largest offshore drilling contractors in 1969. Houston Contracting Company has enjoyed an everex expanding volume of business related primarily to the construction of the major gas transmission systems connecting the gas fields of Texas and Louisiana to the Midwest and eastern marketing areas of the United States. Later, the company's operations expanded worldwide. Petroline is a mammoth project 750 mi long costing $1.6 billion and is designed to carry crude oil from the rich Gawa fields of the eastern province across the kingdom. The initial daily output will be $1.85 million barrels with future expansion to 2.35 million barrels forecasted. After the geologists and surveyors had completed their work, the main task of cat Houston was to prepare the right of way. And in the western part of the kingdom, where there is much rock, that meant blasting. Drills were brought in to make holes for dynamite charges. Primers were taped to sticks of dynamite, and these were then inserted into individual holes. As a rule, these holes were positioned 1 m apart for the length of the ditch to be blasted. Usually a distance of 400 m. [Music] All of the primers had delay caps on them, which when detonated set off a ripple effect, rather like the burst of a giant machine gun. Preparing the right of way was a major undertaking, especially when one considers that Cat Houston had to blast its way through mountains like this, creating what was jokingly referred to as the gun site. Incidentally, Cat Houston used only top class and mostly brand new equipment for petroline like this Jetco ditcher for example. [Music] [Applause] The petroline route will be 3,600 km shorter than the sea route around the Arabian Peninsula. The corresponding reduction in transportation cost alone provides economic justification for the construction of petroline. But the benefits of petroline to Saudi Arabia extend beyond favorable economies of transportation. The construction of a crude oil export terminal on the Red Sea will give the kingdom petroleum export capabilities on both coasts and at the same time will reduce tanker traffic in the Gulf. It will also mean greater flexibility in the distribution of crude oil in both the international and domestic markets. [Music] After the ditch had been properly excavated, the next stage was to string the pipes. Huge sections 48 in in diameter and 24 m long have been brought out from Yanboo on pipe trailers and stored in yards like this. [Applause] From the pipe yard, sections of pipe were driven out to the trench, unloaded carefully, and then strung along the side of the trench. Heat. Heat. [Applause] [Music] The engineering of Petroline is rather unusual in that the pipes were laid in tension. This was to prevent the pipe from buckling out of the ground when oil raised to a temperature of 80° centigrade began to flow through the pipe. Here we see the pipes being bent which is itself a complex operation. After the pipes had been strung in position they had to be welded together in sections of 1 km. This operation required not only welding skills of a high order, but also a willingness to work in difficult conditions. [Applause] Heat. Heat. It should also be mentioned that after the welding, Petroline's welds were 100% x-rayed in accordance with the most stringent safety precautions. [Music] After the field welding had been completed, the next step was to coat the field joints with fusion bonded epoxy coating. The purpose of this operation was to prevent corrosion. [Applause] [Music] [Laughter] [Music] After the field joints had been coated, they were checked once more to ensure or that the work had been done properly. [Music] [Music] [Music] Before the pipeline section could be laid, the ditch had to be bedded with sand and loose earth. [Music] After the trench had been bedded, the next part of the operation was to lay the pipe. For this, giant side booms were used. Here we can see the results of this well-coordinated effort. [Music] The pipe has now been laid along the bottom of the bedded trench. [Music] [Applause] The next stage was to backfill the trench with selected materials so that the pipe was completely covered. soon all that was visible of a complex engineering feat was a mound running in a more or less straight line across the terrain. [Applause] Altogether, CAT Houston employed 1,200 workers on petroline, the vast majority being housed in camps like this. Here, the construction workers ate and slept while the office staff provided backup support, including the regular payment of wages. [Applause] To ensure that the project ran smoothly, close coordination with all sectors of petroline was necessary. >> Come in please come in. Over. Go ahead. I'm with you. Over baseball in 24. Come in 24. Over. Tony, the plane is airborne. Is airborne. It's expected to reach you at around 11 over. [Applause] Speedy contact with Jeda, where Cat Houston's main office was located, was maintained by this twin engineed otter belonging to the company. [Applause] [Music] These loops in the line are actually valves designed to check the flow of oil through the pipe in the event of a station shutdown. [Music] Once the line had been laid, it had to be tested. Salt water from the Red Sea, specially treated with chemical inhibitors and oxygen scavengers, was pumped through. Care being taken that the waste water did not contaminate freshwater wells or cause harm to agriculture. [Applause] The completion of Petroline has enabled Petri to pump large quantities of crude oil from Upcake to Yanbu where it is stored in this tank farm with a holding capacity of 11 million barrels. Kat of Lebanon and Houston of the United States, two major contracting concerns from East and West, have collaborated to link East and West Saudi Arabia. There is pure poetry in the idea, as well as science, advanced technology, sophisticated administrative capability, and sheer muscle. Cat Houston is proud to have participated in the development of Saudi Arabia. [Music] [Applause] [Music]

1 user has this film:
Periscope Film

No related films.

Original permalink · Record added: 2026-03-22 15:04:18