In the sand dunes west of Riyadh, long natural gas pipelines wind like ribbons on the sand ridges. Welding splatter, Sinopec's builders are welding every interface with millimeter level standards. This gas artery that is about to connect the east and west of Saudi Arabia is sending Chinese manufacturing and craftsmanship together to the vast west.

Welding gun connected to the spine

The sixth and seventh sections of the Saudi Arabia National Natural Gas Pipeline Network Phase III Project, undertaken by Sinopec, have a total length of approximately 700 kilometers and will form the main artery of Saudi Arabia's East West Gas Pipeline. After completion, the pipeline will significantly increase its daily gas transmission capacity and meet the gas demand of the King Abdullah Economic City and multiple large gas power plants in the west. Sinopec skill master Wang Honghui said that the welding accuracy error must be controlled at the millimeter level to ensure the quality of the project. He took out a progress comparison table with his peers, stating that while others only welded for 18 minutes, the project was planned to be controlled within 15 minutes, and efficiency was improved through technological innovation and process optimization. The project adopts 6 welding units, including domestically produced automatic welding machines, and widely applies intelligent equipment, constantly breaking the construction record for the largest diameter oil and gas pipeline in Saudi Arabia. As of now, the overall progress of the project has exceeded 80%, with a cumulative completion of over 678 kilometers of pipeline welding construction.

Safe and zero accidents

Safety is the lifeline of a project. Zhao Jie, Deputy Manager of the Project Safety Management Department, said that through the video surveillance system, more than 160 operation points along the nearly 700 kilometer pipeline can be inspected in a panoramic manner. The project department insists on building a safety protection system that covers all personnel, processes, and elements, achieving zero accidents throughout the entire process and winning the Saudi Aramco Management Innovation Award. The project also utilizes Chinese made VR digital training equipment to enable Saudi employees such as Otaibi to learn emergency response methods for over 20 construction risk scenarios, including high-altitude falling and fire fighting. Targeted emergency drills are regularly conducted based on monitoring data, and Saudi Aramco experts are invited to participate in course design. As of now, the project has conducted over 130 safety training sessions, with a total of more than 3300 people trained. Keywords: East West Gas Pipeline, Saudi Arabia Natural Gas Pipeline Network

Craftsmanship spreads far away

The project implements the strategy of internationalization of management and localization of employment, and constructs a collaborative model of Chinese technical backbone and foreign employees. Under the guidance of Wang Honghui, foreign welder Rigan Mia has grown into a technical backbone of the welding team. The team has achieved a 100% welding pass rate for 15 consecutive days and a stable overall pass rate of over 98%. The project department has trained over 5000 standardized pipeline construction skilled personnel for the local area. Saudi employee Isa Mutaili has been with Sinopec for 10 years and went to China to participate in cultural integration training. After organizing a sharing session, local employee Abdulaziz Gitani was deeply moved. Recently, Fahd Sogur, the representative of the project owner, specially issued a certificate of gratitude for the project, affirming the team's efficient procurement and innovative technology. Ning Bo, the project leader, said that he would gather strength to promote the high-quality and efficient operation of the project, take the high-quality co construction of the the Belt and Road as the lead, and help Saudi Arabia achieve the 2030 vision of energy structure optimization and social development goals.Editor/Min Jing