Petroleum
Oil and gas sector
The petroleum industry is powerful enough to develop and impose its own de facto standards, yet, in recent years, has been making a major commitment to working within the ISO system because it sees an added value in International Standards. For many years, American Petroleum Institute (API) standards served as the de facto international standards for the oil and gas industry. These standards generally met the industry's needs until the 1980s, when major development projects outside the USA created new needs. In the absence of truly international standards, national specifications required significant technical changes.
As a result, the technical committee ISO/TC 67, Materials, equipment and offshore structures for petroleum and natural gas industries, developed a partnership with API (which hosts the committee secretariat) and has adopted the policy of "do it once, do it right and do it internationally."
The International Association of Oil and Gas Producers (OGP) promotes the use of ISO and IEC standards for the sector worldwide. ISO/TC 67 has published some 150 International Standards. These standards are now widely implemented in oil and gas provinces throughout the world, replacing existing industry and national standards and company specifications.
"For industry, they reduce costs and delivery time and facilitate trade across national borders," the OGP states in its bulletin. "For regulatory authorities, the standards offer support for goal-setting and functional regulations, while achieving higher levels of safety through better performance of design."
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