Board Meeting Update - London

The September Board of Directors meetings were held in London during the week of the annual convention from 10-14 September. The following highlights the main discussions and decisions made.

Minutes of the Amsterdam Board Meeting

The action items and decisions made at the Amsterdam meeting were reviewed in detail and certain items were carried forward as appropriate.

Treasurer’s Report

Adam Wynne Hughes, President of Pipeline Induction Heat, presented the Treasurer’s Report, saying that IPLOCA continues to be in good financial health.

He started with the forecast to complete 2018 and also presented the report to the AGM which was approved by the Board. He confirmed that funds continue to be allocated as follows: CHF 1.5 million as a Convention Contingency Fund, CHF 1 million as an IPLOCA Contingency Fund and a similar amount in general funds. It is expected that a refund will be obtained of the 20% VAT charged for the DMC services of the convention.

2019 Convention

IPLOCA’s 53 rd Annual Convention will take place in Bangkok, Thailand from 30 September to 4 October, 2019.

New Members

One Regular Member was confirmed: Mohammed Al Barghash Co.Ltd., Saudi Arabia. Two Associate Members were confirmed: Driver Global Construction Consultancy, U.K.¸ Kebulin-Gesellschaft Kettler GmbH, Germany. One Corresponding Member was confirmed: INA Plc, Croatia

Name Changes

The following name change was approved: MASA-DIAPto MASA PIPELINES S.L.

Resignations

Considered as resigned because of non-payment of 2018membership fees:--

CHETRA - Mining Machinery, Russia

-- CIS Catering International Services, France

-- Jiangsu Yulong Steel Pipe Limited, China

-- Grup Servicii Petroliere S.A., Romania

Vozrojdeniye JSC, Russia

Development of IPLOCA Business Strategy

The Board was informed that, as agreed at the Amsterdammeeting, Strategy Consultant, Ed Bond, would behaving informal discussions with Board directors, theExecutive Secretary and other IPLOCA members duringconvention week, to gain a better understanding of whatthe association’s purpose is and what our expectations arefor the future. The plan is for the strategy document to bepresented at the Annual Convention in 2019.

Scholarship Sponsorships

The Chair of the Scholarship Committee, Steve Sumner,announced that three companies were interested insponsoring IPLOCA scholarships and that further sponsorsare welcome. IPLOCA funding of the scholarships willcontinue until 2023.

Convening of the 2018-2019 Board of Directors

On Friday during the week of the Annual Convention theretiring president, Andrew Ball said it had been a privilegeto be president over the past year. There had been goodconversations and debates; it was a great board thathad embraced change. He thanked the Geneva staff fora successful convention and for the organisation of theboard meetings throughout the year. He then thankedthe board members who had finished their term andthe retiring directors left the room. The 2018-2019 Boardconvened.

Incoming President John Tikkanen presented Andrew Ball with his presidential pin.

Andrew Ball tabled the proposed names for the 2018-2019 officers and the board voted unanimously to appoint John Tikkanen as President, Iosif Panchak as 1 st Vice President, Oliviero Corvi as 2 nd Vice President and Adam Wynne Hughes as Treasurer.

Appointment of Directors and Directors-at-Large

There being vacant seats in a number of regions, John Tikkanen proposed the appointment of Albert Zakhem as Director, Middle East & Africa; Doug Evans & Steve Sumner as Directors, Europe Central; and Ma Chunqing as Director, East & Far East. All these appointments were unanimously accepted by the other directors.

The names of the proposed Directors-at-Large were tabled by John Tikkanen. The board then voted unanimously to appoint Doug Bailey (Caterpillar), Fatih Can (Tekfen Construction), Oliviero Corvi (Bonatti), Bill Solomon (Vacuworx) and Tim Zboya (Bechtel) as Directors-at-Large.

Nominations to the New Committees

The 2018/2019 Board will run four committees and two projects, which were confirmed as follows, along with their Board members for each committee:

HSE & CSR Committee: Sue Sljivic (Chair), Alberto Barbieri, Yasar Giregiz, Albert Zakhem and Leon Richards

Innovation Committee: Bill Solomon (Chair), Jacquelin de La Porte des Vaux, Fatih Can, Najib Khoury, Doug Bailey and Tim Zboya

Membership Committee: Oliviero Corvi (Chair), Kelly Osborn, Gonzalo Montenegro, Giacomo Bonfanti, Ma Chunqing, Khulud Halaby, Daniel Fernandez and Steve Sumner

Strategy Committee: Doug Evans (Chair), John Tikkanen,Iosif Panchak, Adam Wynne Hughes, Andy Ball andJohan Van Wassenhove

Convention Location & Communication Project: AdamWynne Hughes (Project Lead), the Executive Committee

Scholarship Project: Steve Sumner (Project Lead),Scholarship America (Management)

It was confirmed that the regional meeting in Lima, Peruwas taking place on 9 October. A report on this meeting canbe found on the IPLOCA website and later in this newsletter.It was agreed, however, to postpone the regional meetingscheduled to take place in Abu Dhabi in November due tothe fact that the main organiser, Georges Hage, had resignedfrom the board. Future regional meetings in 2019 werediscussed as follows, and all dates need to be confirmed:--

Amsterdam (The Netherlands) early April

Houston (in conjunction with the Offshore TechnologyConference - OTC) 6 May

-- Parma (Italy) 28-29 May

Moscow (Russia) possibly 11 June

Priorities for the 2018/2019 Board

John Tikkanen informed the board that his four prioritiesfor the coming presidential year are as follows:

-- Complete the review of IPLOCA’s strategy and direction

Expand participation of Corresponding Members(pipeline owners/operators) in IPLOCA

Conduct at least five successful regional meetings/workshops in addition to the annual convention

Expand and improve communication with themembership

Next Board Meeting

The next board meeting will be held from 5 to 8 December2018 in Vienna, Austria.