JFE Steel Supplies Original ERW Pipe for Norwegian and North Sea Oil Projects

JFE Steel announced on Tuesday the firm received an order for the firm’s original electric resistance welded (ERW) steel pipe named MightySeam in cooperation with Marubeni-Itochu Steel from Norwegian energy company, Statoil, and completed the export in August. Total 3,500 tonnes of MightySeam with 10.75-inch outer diameter will be adopted to Statoil’s two oil well projects. MightySeam will be laid by reel-based method as the first non-heat-treatment ERW pipe in the world.

JFE Steel produced MightySeam in Keihin area of East Japan works and shipped the product for Stjerne project in the North Sea and Hyme project in the Norwegian Sea.

Reel method is suitable for medium scale pipeline laying, which provides welded steel pipe from a reel on a ship. The method realizes lower laying cost than the conventional method to weld steel pipe on a ship. Meanwhile, reel method requires strict manufacturing specifications. Thus seamless pipe or heat-treatment ERW pipe has been used so far.

MightySeam represents much higher weld toughness than conventional ERW pipes even at the temperature below minus 50 Celsius degrees. Oxide emission can also be controlled well in the welding process.