OREANDA-NEWS. JFE Steel Corporation announced that together with Marubeni-Itochu Steel Inc. it has supplied Australian energy company Santos Ltd. with 2,000 tons of API X80-grade electric-resistance-welded (ERW) steel pipe offering unprecedented thickness exceeding 20mm from their Chita Works. JFE Steel’s advanced pipes will be used for surface casing in the Crown-1 and Winchester-1 drilling campaigns offshore of north-western Australia.

The wells are aimed at discovering hydrocarbons in the Browse Basin (Crown-1) and Carnarvon Basin (Winchester-1) from the latter half of 2012 and proposed from the first half of 2013, respectively.

Conventionally, either expensive seamless pipe or UOE pipe would be used for such projects to provide the high strength and extra thickness required to withstand the great pressures of deep-sea environments. Surface casing is run into the ground or bottom of the ocean after the hole has been drilled in the early phase of drilling for oil or gas to provide a sturdy foundation and integrity for the well.

JFE Steel, which has sold steel conductor pipes to customers worldwide for many years, is continuing to develop increasingly stronger and thicker pipes to support the safe and economical development of global resources.