Abstract

An integrated power system plays an important role in maintaining continuous oil and gas production in PT Caltex Pacific Indonesia (CPI) areas of operation in Central Sumatra. About 96% of the total oil production depends on the reliability of power transmission and distribution system which spans over 2,000 km in a jungle environment.

Any planned or forced outage of the system will result in production loss. As a part of efforts to minimize loss of oil production, in 1977 CPI introduced the application of live line maintenance in their electrified oil fields. Known also as a hotline work, the live line maintenance is basically an alternative method to planned power outages, aimed at eliminating production losses during repair or maintenance work. Between 1982 - 1987 over 7,000 hotline work orders on 13.8, 44 and 115 KV transmission lines have been carried out. This has provided a production gain of 2.9 million barrels of oil.

This paper discusses the live line maintenance in CPI areas of operation in Central Sumatra. The discussion includes the method used and related training and safety aspects which have been adopted by the company. Hotline work in CPI has successfully been carried out and the safety record in doing the work is one of the highest in the company. The results proved that high voltage hotline work can be conducted as safely as coldline work. The success of the work to date has been attributable to the strict control of procedures and the employment of specially trained and highly motivated personnel who have developed pride in their skills.