Growing Need for Equipment Life Cycle Strategies
By Anchal Liddar, Senior Vice President, API, Global Industry Services
(P&GJ) — In a capital-intensive industry like oil and natural gas, doing more with less is both a business necessity and an ongoing challenge. A significant part of that equation lies in how companies manage their equipment.
To meet performance goals and reduce downtime, operators must continually improve the efficiency and usable life of their equipment, all while navigating safety, performance and sustainability expectations.
Historically, our industry has relied on a range of standards, like API Specification Q1 and API Specification Q2, along with structured repair and remanufacture activities, to support quality and operational consistency. But those standards and activities govern specific snapshots in time. What happens after those moments? What happens in the years between manufacturing, maintenance, service events and decommissioning?
That’s the gap that led to the development of API Standard 18LCM, Product Life Cycle Management System Requirements for the Petroleum and Natural Gas Industries. Developed by the American Petroleum Institute, API 18LCM establishes a structured framework for managing critical equipment throughout its life cycle — from manufacturing through decommissioning — ensuring traceability, maintenance and compliance at every stage. The standard applies to organizations that perform life cycle management activities, which includes OEMs, service companies, operators, contractors and repair organizations.
It's important to note that API 18LCM doesn’t replace any existing processes; rather, it enhances them by preserving and connecting the information companies already generate through implementation of quality management systems, such as Q1, Q2 or ISO 9001. The value of creating a life cycle management plan is holistic. That is, rather than offering individual line-item benefits (i.e., reducing per-unit maintenance costs), its value is cumulative. Over time, it enables better decisions, safer operations and more efficient resource allocation, high-level achievements that allow operators to truly do more with less.
After Entering Service
Due to their high capital cost and performance-critical nature, much of the equipment used in oil and natural gas operations, especially in wellbore and pressure environments, is built for long-term use. But after years of service, often with multiple owners, records of original manufacturing specifications, maintenance activities and usage conditions can become fragmented or lost.
This lack of continuity creates uncertainty. Consider a contractor preparing to redeploy a pressure-control component that’s been in service for years. While it may appear structurally sound, it may lack a clear record of its prior use, how it’s been maintained or whether it was ever downgraded for a lower-pressure application. Without reliable documentation, the operator faces an operational dilemma: retire and replace the equipment (possibly prematurely), invest in costly testing to verify its fitness or proceed with reuse, despite limited information.
An API 18LCM management system helps address this kind of challenge by establishing life cycle continuity where it could be lacking. Rather than relying on isolated records from manufacturing or repair events, the standard provides a framework for establishing and maintaining traceability and performance documentation throughout the product’s entire operational life cycle, regardless of who owns it or where it’s deployed. And by maintaining a structured and consistent history, operators and service providers can make informed decisions based on verifiable facts, not assumptions.
Power of Integration
Many companies already operate under well-established API standards. For instance, API Specification Q1, Quality Management System Requirements for Organizations Providing Products for the Petroleum and Natural Gas Industry (now in its 10th edition), outlines a management system to manage how equipment is manufactured and how services are delivered, including specifics such as quality control, traceability and supplier qualification.
API Q2, Quality Management for Service Supply Organizations for the Petroleum and Natural Gas Industry (now in its 2nd edition), provides the framework for service and supply providers to manage quality across operational and logistical activities, primarily at a wellsite. And repair and remanufacture activities (now supported through API-endorsed licensing) help maintain or restore equipment in alignment with minimum performance standards.
Each of these elements plays an important role in maintaining equipment integrity. But on their own, they offer only point-in-time visibility. API Q1 applies to manufacturing and general service provision; API Q2 applies at the point of service at wellsite; repair and remanufacture applies at the time of repair or pursuant to ongoing maintenance; None of these frameworks provide continuous tracking across the asset’s entire operational life. Once equipment is placed into or returned to service, any loss of documentation can compromise operational confidence.
API 18LCM creates a structured approach that integrates and aligns previously generated documentation, establishing a comprehensive life cycle record that follows the equipment through every application and ownership change.
To be clear, an API 18LCM management system doesn’t impose additional administrative burdens on operators already stretched thin. Most organizations already generate substantial equipment-related data, such as manufacturing records, maintenance logs and service reports. An API 18LCM system simply provides a framework to unify and manage that information.
18LCM in Practice
In the earlier example of a contractor preparing to redeploy a pressure-control component after years of service, without the benefit of API 18LCM, the operator may lack the requisite data to make an informed decision. This uncertainty carries cost, time and risk implications.
With an API 18LCM management system in place, that same valve would be classified, tracked and documented through a Life Cycle Management Plan (LCMP), a service quality framework that outlines traceability, maintenance and regulatory requirements. The LCMP must align with API Specification Q2 and is designed to accompany the equipment through each stage of its operational life.
To guide how equipment is entered into an LCMP, API 18LCM uses a classification system with three defined levels – LCM-1, LCM-2 and LCM-3 – each based on the level of verifiable documentation available at the time of entry:
- LCM-1 applies to equipment with the least available documentation. A company may know the general product type but lacks details such as its maintenance history (before it started managing the equipment) or date the equipment was first used.
- LCM-2 applies when more detailed records exist. This classification requires a verifiable service history, including when the equipment was first used and an understanding of its maintenance history and original manufacturing details. Many API-marked products with identifiable nameplate information can meet LCM-2 classification.
- LCM-3 represents the highest level of documentation and traceability. Equipment classified under LCM-3 has been tracked carefully since its manufacture and there is certainty about its original design, manufacturing specifications, service history and usage.
Beyond classification, the LCMP also documents repair records, installation environments, usage conditions and decommissioning protocols. If documentation gaps exist, the LCMP flags them and outlines next steps, such as inspection or testing, to address the uncertainty.
To enter an LCMP, API 18LCM doesn’t require equipment to maintain perfect documentation. It works with available records and builds from there, connecting existing data to create a clearer, more actionable picture of equipment conditions and service history.
In some cases, that documentation can also support strategic repurposing. For example, a valve originally rated as a Class 600 component in a high-pressure pipeline may, after years of routine maintenance, be rerated as a Class 300 valve and redeployed in a lower-pressure breakout tank. While the equipment no longer meets its original specification, it remains valuable in a less demanding role. API 18LCM helps make this possible by maintaining the necessary records to support derating decisions.
Not Just Upstream
Although API 18LCM was originally developed for upstream applications (specifically for pressure-containing and pressure-controlling products used in wellbore fluid operations), it can apply just as meaningfully to other industry segments, including midstream operations involving pipelines.
In these environments, equipment tends to remain in service for many years, if not decades. As a result, equipment operational and maintenance documentation could become inconsistent over time, especially as components are serviced or even relocated. In these settings, life cycle continuity is especially valuable and important.
For pipeline operators managing vast networks of this type of equipment, an API 18LCM management system offers a more structured approach to maintaining records, supporting more reliable maintenance strategies, improved planning and better-informed decisions about continued use, redeployment or decommissioning.
Competitive Advantage
At a time when operators are under constant pressure to improve efficiency, extend equipment life and reduce risk across complex operations, life cycle visibility can deliver a meaningful competitive advantage.
An API 18LCM management system offers a practical and scalable way to achieve that visibility. By fostering industrywide standardization and improving traceability, API 18LCM helps mitigate risks, supports proactive maintenance strategies and promotes long-term equipment performance, reinforcing API’s leadership in setting the foundation for safe, efficient and sustainable energy operations.
Author: Anchal Liddar is the senior vice president of API’s Global Industry Services (GIS) division. Previously, she spent nine years at The Boeing Company, serving various roles in supply chain, finance and program management. Anchal holds a Bachelor of Science from the University of California-Irvine and an M.B.A. and a Master of Science in Information Systems & Technology from Claremont Graduate University.