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Oil & gas · measurement

Settling a disputed custody meter without pulling it

The problem

Two parties disagreed about the volume crossing a custody transfer meter. Pulling the meter to prove it meant stopping the transfer and sending the unit to a calibration lab — expensive, slow, and disruptive to a live commercial flow.

The approach

An independent, non-invasive check with a portable clamp-on meter on the same line, installed with proper straight run. It could not replace the custody meter — single-path clamp-on is not a custody instrument — but it did not need to. It needed only to answer whether the custody meter's number was plausible or clearly off, and it did that on a live line without stopping the transfer.

What mattered in the detail

We were explicit about what the check could and could not prove. A few-percent agreement confirms the custody meter is behaving; it does not re-certify it. A large disagreement flags a real problem worth a full calibration. Being honest about that distinction is what made the result trusted by both sides.

The lesson

A clamp-on meter is a superb tool for checking a custody meter, and the wrong tool for being one. Knowing which conversation you are in is the whole job.

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