For more than 70 years, Fine Tubes has manufactured high performance tubing for critical applications and the offshore oil and gas sector is a key market for the company.
The company has responded to changing customer requirements with a consistent record of new product design and innovation.
For the most hostile offshore environments, Fine Tubes has the capability and the capacity to work with a wide range of exotic alloys to manufacture both coiled and straight length tubing that meets the industry’s growing requirement for products that are genuinely ‘fit and forget’.
Austenitic, super austenitic, duplex and super duplex stainless steels, titanium grades and nickel alloys have all been used by Fine Tubes to produce corrosion-resistant tubes that can withstand operating pressures of up to 60,000psi. With tensile strengths greater than 220ksi (1,515MPa), the tubing can be manufactured in sizes from 1.6mm (0.063in) OD up to 63mm (2.475in) OD.
The tube mill regularly supplies precision tubing in stainless steels 904L (UNS N08904) and 6Moly (UNS S31254), as well as nickel alloy 625 (UNS N06625) and alloy 825 (UNS N08825) for global offshore and onshore projects. Fine Tubes enhanced its portfolio with Super Duplex UNS 32750 to complement existing 22Cr Duplex products, materials that provide particularly high resistance to seawater corrosion and lower production costs.
Fine Tubes has also invested in specialised equipment to produce seam welded, cold redrawn and annealed tubes, which are used all over the world in hostile downhole conditions, including deepwater and sour oil well projects.
The company has strong relationships with many of the world’s most successful steel and alloy producers, which allows the company to offer a wide range of leading material choices and technical solution options to the customer.
Working closely with its clients, whether national energy companies or international engineering contractors, in all of the world’s key oil and gas regions, Fine Tubes has developed products for some of the offshore industry’s most demanding applications:
- Downhole, hydraulic and chemical injection control lines
- Control lines in subsea umbilicals
- Flowline control line tubing for pipe-in-pipe bundles
- Downhole gauge cables
- Control and instrumentation tubing
- Pressure housings
- Hydraulic tubing for control measuring devices and pumps
For the instrumentation equipment that controls measuring devices and supplies hydraulic pumps and tools, Fine Tubes primarily manufactures seamless precision tubing in straight lengths.
This type of tubing is also used in onshore control panels, topside processing facilities, offshore subsea manifolds and templates up to 2,000m under the sea. The greater lengths that can be achieved with this tubular technology have resulted in reduced operating costs, improved recovery methods and reduced capital expenditure by connecting remote and satellite wells to fixed or floating central operating platforms.
Fine Tubes can also manufacture coiled tubing for downhole hydraulic control and chemical injection lines, subsea hydraulic power and chemical injection lines, and smoothbore control lines used in fibre optic applications. Using special orbital welded joints, coils can be manufactured in lengths of up to 13,500m (45,000ft).
With its headquarters and production facilities in Plymouth, UK, and sales offices in Munich, Germany; Orleans, France; New Delhi, India; and Houston, US, Fine Tubes employs approximately 380 permanent staff and exports its products to more than 35 countries worldwide.
Through its alliance with the US-based tube manufacturer Superior Tube, Fine Tubes can offer extended capabilities and manufacturing capacities with competitive lead times to ensure a truly global service for all existing and potential customers.
