Toward One Set of International Standards for the Petroleum Industry Worldwide
Authors: Arney C.E. 
Published: October 2008

Dominance of U.S. industrial standards and practices over the worldwide petroleum industry has been challenged by the growth in world trade since the end of World War II, and by oil and gas development in other industrial nations with an advanced manufacturing capability. Beginning in the early 1980's, the American Petroleum Institute (API) therefore embarked on a program for wider international participation in development of API standards, codes and practices. During the same period, the European Economic Community (EEC) was working to establish the single market, which requires common engineering and manufacturing standards throughout Europe by the end of 1992. In order to ensure as far as possible one single set of standards for oilfield equipment and materials throughout the world, and to avoid unnecessary duplication and the writing of new and possibly conflicting European (EN) standards, International Standardization Organization Technical Committee 67 (ISO/TC67) was reactivated in 1989. ISO/TC67 is responsible for equipment and materials for the petroleum and natural gas industries. This paper reviews progress made to date on International Standardization, and discusses some of the problems which may be ahead.

INTRODUCTION

Present international standardization activities in the oil and gas sector are influenced by three main factors:early market dominance achieved by the U.S. due to a highly developed domestic exploration and production industry;harmonization of technical standards within the European Economic Community (EEC); andmajor oil and gas production from the North Sea.

The present effort towards international standardization will best succeed if pursued within a broad historical and economic context. Therefore, this paper reviews these factors and the influence they had on the 1988 decision to reactivate Technical Committee 67 of the International Standards Organization (ISO/TC67). Progress made since then is also summarized.

BACKGROUND

Coal fueled the first industrial revolution, which started in Britain around 1760 and slowly spread to the rest of Europe after the Napoleonic War, Britannica, 1986. Coal then remained the dominant energy source in Western Europe well into the twentieth century, Cooper & Gaskell, 1966. In Britain itself, the real change to petroleum started with the discovery of oil in Iran in 1908 and the founding of the Anglo Persian Oil Company the following year. Added impetus was given by the decision of Winston Churchill in 1912-13 to make the Royal Navy wholly dependent on oil. Loncrhurst. 1959a.

In the United States, things were very different. The first oil well had been drilled by E. L. Drake at Titusville, Pennsylvania, in 1859. In 1900 there were 78,745 producing oil wells in the continental U.S. and this number increased to 421,460 by 1946 (Table 1). By 1970 the U.S. had 530,990 producing oil wells, or 89% of the free world total (Table 2). Since this effort was supported by domestic industries, the United States had a clear technical lead in drilling technology and supply.