Integrating GIS with Pipeline Simulation Software

Targa Resources is one of the largest independent midstream natural gas and Natural Gas Liquids (“NGL”) companies in the United States. Targa owns or operates over 11,300 miles of natural gas gathering and NGL pipelines and 22 natural gas processing plants with over 10 billion cubic feet of capacity in the United States. As a prudent and profitable operator, we have invested significant time and resources to develop and use information and engineering systems such as Geographic Information System (”GIS”) and pipeline simulation to help us operate our pipeline systems safely and efficiently. In order to reduce costs and maximize benefits we integrated GIS and pipeline simulation. This presentation discusses the issues, problems and experiences of creating pipeline simulation models from GIS and displaying the results in GIS.

Speaker Biography - Clay Noble

Clay Noble is a Senior Staff Engineer in the North Texas Region of Targa Resources, Inc. He has been with Targa Resources and Dynegy Midstream Services for 16 years and prior to that with Shell Western E&P for 16 years. He has been involved with nearly all aspects of the upstream and midstream gas industry, including drilling, production, processing and storage. Over the years he has held various positions in operations, engineering and business development. About 10 years ago he recognized the benefits of integrating GIS with measurement information and pipeline simulation. Since then he has successfully promoted and completed a series of focused information and engineering system projects that help Targa Resources operate their pipeline systems safely and efficiently. Clay is a graduate of Texas A&M with a BS in Mechanical Engineering.

Speaker Biography - Michael Istre

Michael L. Istre is the Director of Software Development at Gregg Engineering in Sugar Land (Houston), Texas. He has been with Gregg Engineering for 15 years and is responsible for the WinFlow and WinTran product lines. At Gregg Engineering, Michael’s responsibilities include all aspects of the simulator’s design from the interfaces to the hydraulic run engines as well as their integration with external software. He has been developing Windows based programs for Gregg Engineering since the early 1990’s and was instrumental in bringing the first Windows based pipe simulator to the market. Michael is a graduate of Texas A&M with a BS in Mechanical Engineering.

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