Gas measurement and accounting system auditing has gradually become somewhat more complex as electronic flow measurement and other computer-based technologies have arrived on the scene.

      Before the early 1990s, measurement auditing was often little more than verifying chart integration and struggling through piles of field test slips looking for missed orifice plate changes, incorrect gas quality information, and unnoticed calibration adjustments. Today, however, gas measurement auditing is more complicated than ever before as gas companies rely on high-speed communication and computer networks to gather massive amounts of information required in today’s fast-paced energy industry. Flow rates, total energy, pressures, temperatures, gas quality, flow factors, meter performance data and a lot more is included in this enormous information mix.

      Much of the information collected through these systems is used for purposes other than calculating gas flow. Gas measurement data are also frequently used to monitor, track, and record operating conditions relating to safety, pipeline integrity, gas management, and environmentally relevant issues.

      Gas measurement and engineering groups sometimes support measurement audits as part of their normal responsibilities. In other cases, audit teams do the work alone–with, or without, specialized training in the subject. Still, only occasionally do measurement audits reach much beyond the office walls.

      When auditors do venture into the field, it is usually to briefly visit a few sites, possibly witness the calibration procedures, maybe inspect an orifice plate, look at a gas chromatograph or sampling system, and possibly measure the lengths of a couple of meter tubes. Seldom does the field portion of a measurement audit delve into much detail, except perhaps during the review of field-generated paper or electronic printouts or other records.

      The advent of ultrasonic meters, Coriolis meters, and other meter types now used for custody transfer gas measurement has helped elevate gas measurement auditing to new and more interesting levels. Industry measurement standards and reports sometime help smooth the way, but not always.

      It is important to remember that the measurement audit process should never be limited exclusively to administrative issues, and that targeting only operational issues can be equally misleading. A complete measurement audit must include both.

      It is easy to understand how auditors sometimes find it difficult to figure out which pieces of the puzzle are important to the bottom line and which ones are not.

2008 Stark & Associates, Inc.
www.StarkAssoc.com