Posted on 25 Jan 2011
Chinese pipe makers must develop high-end OCTG: CISA
To help the development of China’s petroleum industry, the country’s pipe producers are urged to develop high-quality pipes, according to the China Iron and Steel Association (CISA).
China’s petroleum industry has become one of the largest end users of steel pipes, second only to the construction industry. In 2009, about 9.5m tonnes of steel pipes were supplied for the petroleum industry, accounting for 20% of the total consumption of 47.74m t, according to data from China Metallurgical News (CMN), CISA’s official in-house publication seen by Steel Business Briefing. These 9.5m t of pipes include 2.83m t of oil country tubular goods (OCTG), 3.2m t of line pipes for long-distance oil/gas transportation of trunk/branch lines, 1.5m t of line pipes for urban pipe networks, 1m t of oil gathering line pipes for pipelines in oil fields and 1m t of pipes for piping systems in refineries.
China’s four major oil companies imported about 129,400 t of OCTG in 2009, about 4.5% of China’s total consumption. A domestic industry source says although China’s self-sufficiency rate of OCTG has risen to more than 90%, China still relies on imports of some high-quality products such as nickel-based tubing and duplex stainless tubing. These products are very expensive, he tells SBB.
China’s OCTG makers are being advised by the country’s oil industry to develop products such as SS-105 drilling pipe (and above SS-120 grade), super high-strength drilling pipe, high-intensity casing with grades above V155, high-collapse welded casing, 22Cr/25Cr and nickel-based/FeNi based casing/tubing.
