Pipeline Equities
PO Box 571977
Houston, Texas 77257
Phone: 713-623-0690

Pipeline Recovery

excavation & removal

Damage Assessment

of easements

Pipeline Appraisal

pipeline property valuation

Pipeline Industry Expert Witness Services

Testimony of Pipeline Expert Witness, David Howell

One way or another, I have been in the oilfield most all of my life. You have to be fairly nimble to really have fifty years experience. That is, you have to learn to do a lot of things and know most of the disciplines of the petroleum industry. I started out as a roughneck working on drilling rigs in south Texas and that led me to: trading in drilling and production equipment, publishing oil field technical information and directories, drilling and working over oil and gas wells, building drilling rigs and components, contracting to drill oil and gas wells, selling well services, being a chief executive of a large petroleum industry supply company, and developing a diversified chemical business for the offshore drilling and production business. I have worked all over the world in one of these capacities or another over the past five decades. I have been managing partner of Pipeline Equities in Houston for the past twenty one years.

Pipeline Experience

For the last twenty five years, I have been involved in the pipeline industry in North America and I have had experience in every oil producing state in the U.S. During this time I have bought and sold crude, gas, and product pipelines for my account and as an agent for others. In this capacity, I have dealt with almost every major pipeline operator in the country. I have been a pipeline operator: operating pipelines and gathering systems for my own account. I currently am a pipeline appraiser. In that position, I value pipelines whether active or inactive, idled or abandoned, crude, gas transmission, main, trunk, gathering, or local distribution company (LDC). We perform this task to determine value for taxing authorities, merger or acquisition companies, dissolution of partnerships including marriages, and establishing values for loan applicants ant lending institutions.

Asbestos on the Pipelines

I have been a salvage operator when dealing with abandoned pipelines and have removed more than six million feet of pipeline throughout North America. Many of these lines had asbestos embedded in the coating material of the pipe. The amount of asbestos varied from five to twenty five percent of the coated material. I am familiar with state and federal rules, regulations and directives regarding the care and handling of asbestos material on pipelines and its removal, transport, extraction and disposal of the material from these pipelines.

Designations

As a designated Senior Right of Way Agent (SRWA) with the International Right of Way Association, I am familiar with rules of conduct and ethics of right of way behavior by any and all parties working on an easement dedicated to an oil, gas, or product pipeline. In the course of becoming a SRWA, I was educated by the association with formal courses such as “Skills of Expert Testimony”, “Legal Aspects of Easements”, “Easement Valuation”, “Understanding Environmental Contamination in Real Estate”, “Project Development and the Environmental Process” and many other seminars and workshops related to easements, landowner negotiation, and environmental concerns or laying, maintaining, repairing, removing, and abandoning pipelines. I am an active member of the Houston Pipeliners Association.

Working with Landowners

Perhaps the greatest skill I have is that of negotiating with landowners or leaseholders on property where we have owned easements and pipelines. We have found that if the landowners are not happy, no one is happy. Although, I have learned many of these skills through taking courses in adult education courses, I think the on the job training over the past fifty years of interacting with landowners to obtain drilling rights or easements has served me best. In addition, I have worked as a facilitator in political functions, church gatherings and small groups on hundreds of occasions. Formal education came from Texas A & M, Kingsville where I was a history and journalism major with a minor in political science. I have recently been accepted into graduate school at Houston Baptist University.

Author & Publisher

I have published The Search for Abandoned Pipelines, The Pipeline Appraisal Handbook, and The Pipeline Recovery Manual as well as The Value of a Pipeline. In the past I have been characterized as analytical, competitive, cooperative, organized, punctual and articulate. My method of discussion is often anecdotal. I enjoy telling a story to indicate a point or emphasis. An expert witness is defined as one “having, involving, or displaying special skill or knowledge derived from training or experience”, “one with the special skill or knowledge representing mastery of a particular subject”. I understand a given court will actually make that determination. Where I am not an engineer or a surveyor or an environmentalist, I have been an overseer of many of these specialists over the years I have been active in the pipeline business.   Click here to Download David Howell’s Resume
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Pipeline Recovery Manual

A complete guide to the business of recovering out of use pipelines

Sign up for our free newsletter to receive your complimentary copy of our Pipeline Recovery Manual that explains our entire process for recovering or salvaging idled or abandoned pipelines.

You will see how we deal with landowners regarding notification and recordings. How to draft a contract of sale with models by: Exxon, Texaco, Koch and others and pictures showing actual work in process.

The manual shows Pipeline Equities job references, right of way releases, agreements and the history and background of Pipeline Equities and managing partner David Howell. These references touch on parts of the six million feet of line removed or handled by the company over the past twenty years.

A line pipe table describing various weights, grades, and pressure ratings of ERW and seamless line pipe is included. This section is an indispensable tool for anyone doing operational word with line pipe.

Also included are extensive glossaries of pipe, pipeline, and right of way terms.

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Request a complimentary Pipeline Appraisal Handbook

Fill out this short form and you will be sent a confirmation link to our Newsletter. Once you click the link you will be subscribed to our newsletter and taken to a page where you can download the Pipeline Appraisal Handbook.

Pipeline Appraisal Handbook

The Definitive How-To Guide on Establishing Values for Pipelines

This handbook written by David Howell, managing partner of Pipeline Equities is the basic text of any pipeline valuation. All of the essential factors for establishing the value of a pipeline are discussed along with exclusive proprietary formulas and tables essential to a certified appraisal.

Also included are 32 pages of pipe weight and grades tables that cover virtually any situation which might be encountered regarding line pipe requirements. Additionally you’ll find an extensive glossary of pipe, pipeline and right of way terminology is part of the Handbook.

Subjects include: Replacement, Right of Way, Surface Inventory, Throughput, Salvage/Recovery, and comparable sales histories to name a few of the basic factors of pipeline appraisal.

The author recognized a need for a report or “how to” manual for properly appraising pipelines and pipeline right of ways. Currently the work is being done by accounting firms, engineers, and real estate appraisers.

This handbook draws from 45 years of experience.

Howell has forty-five years experience in many sectors of the petroleum industry from drilling contractor and oil and gas operator to pipe and supply distribution throughout the world. He has published Tradex Equipment magazine, the Whole World Oil Directory, and the Texas Oil Register.

For the past twenty years, Howell has been almost exclusively engaged in pipeline sales and acquisition, appraisal, removal for salvage, environmental remediation and general pipeline operations.

Howell currently serves on board of the Pipeline Appraisal Institute and is a member of the International Right of Way Association. Howell is a graduate of Texas A&M University – Kingsville and a native of Alice, Texas. He is currently residing in Houston and is the managing partner of Pipeline Equities.