TPT May 2011

OCTG & P IPELINE M ANUFACTURING

Oil Country Tubular Goods may be the broadest category in the tube and pipe industry, covering as it does a span from sensitive instrumentation tubing to

petroleum pipeline. But physical size is only one factor among many across this spectrum, even to those who design and make tubular products for service in the oil patch, on rigs far out at sea, in terrain as punishing as any on earth. A section of pipeline in which a man can stand upright, with his raised arms touching only air, is a marvel. The companies reviewed here are aware that, from this behemoth of the desert down to the narrowest drill string, the integrity of that piece of OCTG is wholly dependent on the quality of its manufacture.

Photo: Ritmo SpA