4. Channelizing Effect

Ever-increasing strictness of regulations, in particular environmental, brings forth before the oil industry enterprises in the Republic of Kazakhstan a problem of reducing to minimum the number of oil pipeline accidents that cause a huge amount of “black gold” to be lost. Whole lakes of oil called “sump oil” were formed of oil spilled as a result of ruptures on intrafield pipelines. According to aerospace surveys, there are nearly 2000 such lakes in the territory of Mangistau region alone. The amount of “sump oil,” even on a conservative estimate, is 1.5 million ton, which, in terms of dollars, is around US$750 million. For example, for 1981 there were 689 ruptures on the Mangistau region fields and, for 1982, 870 ruptures, which has led to oil loss in the amount of 21,000 ton. Estimated cost for repair due to corrosion damage totaled more than 600,000 rubles (1981) [1, 2].