(ISO: Geneva) -- As the third edition of the ISO technical specification ISO/TS 29001 for the international oil and gas industries is rolled out, feedback indicates its increasing acceptance as the baseline requirements document for quality management in these sectors.

ISO/TS 29001:2010 defines quality management system (QMS) requirements for product- and service-supply organizations for the petroleum, petrochemical, and natural gas industries.

The third edition has been updated to include the text of ISO 9001:2008, the generic QMS standard, unaltered and in its entirety. Petroleum, petrochemical, and natural gas industry sector-specific supplemental requirements are given outside the boxes.

ISO/TS 29001:2010 is the result of cooperation between the American Petroleum Institute (API) and ISO technical committee ISO/TC 67—Materials, equipment, and offshore structures for petroleum, petrochemical, and natural gas industries.

They developed ISO/TS 29001—which is also published as API Q1— to provide a single QMS document to meet the needs of the oil and gas industries worldwide, specifically the major petroleum, petrochemical, and natural gas organizations, as well as government and regulatory agencies. The standard provides a basis for qualifying the QMS of equipment manufacturers and service suppliers. Potential end-users include the following:

• Organizations involved in exploration, production, pipelines and transportation, and refining of petroleum and natural gas products

• Organizations involved in the design, manufacture, installation, service, and repair of equipment used in the exploration, production, transportation, and refining of petroleum and natural gas products

• Organizations that provide technical, operational, and support services to the various industry sectors identified above

“ISO/TS 29001 has now been accepted as the baseline requirement for quality management systems in the exploration and production sector of the petroleum and natural gas industry,” says Ed Durante, project leader of the ISO/TC 67 working group that developed ISO/TS 29001. “The document is gaining acceptance in the refining sector and is being seriously considered in the pipeline sector.

Complying to the new standard is more critical than ever, notes Durante. “The consensus of organizations in these sectors is that product and service providers must have a functioning QMS complying with ISO/TS 29001 in order to even be considered as a viable source of supply in the petroleum and natural gas industry,” he says.

“One advantage of this sector-specific document is that it contains all the requirements of ISO 9001, which is necessary for some organizations that must also maintain an ISO 9001-compliant QMS for certain customers,” Duarte adds.

ISO/TS 29001:2010—“Petroleum, petrochemical and natural gas industries—Sector-specific quality management systems—Requirements for product and service supply organizations” is available from ISO national member institutes (see the complete list with contact details).