Tough tubes contract

Corus Tubes, the Northamptonshire-based business unit of Corus, has won a contract to manufacture and deliver line pipe for the Perdido Norte project in the Gulf of Mexico.

Oklahoma-based Williams awarded Corus Tubes the contract, which involves the delivery of 312km of uncoated steel line pipe for use in water depths ranging from 1,066m to 2,530m with a rugged seabed terrain.

The line pipe, measuring 46cm in diameter ranging from 19.1mm to 27mm thick, is expected to be laid in the first half of 2008. One section of the pipeline will transfer hydrocarbons from the FPS Host in Alaminos Canyon 857 and will terminate in East Breaks Blocks 994. The gas pipeline will terminate at Williams Seahawk pipeline in East Breaks Block 599.

The pipe will be manufactured at Corus Tubes Mills in Hartlepool, using an expansion system that Corus says enables the production of durable, and collapse-resistant heavy wall pipes.

‘This project capitalises upon the deployment of the world’s strongest Crimp and O presses, allowing us to create a pipe which combines relatively small outside diameter, a thick wall and very tight dimensional tolerances,’ said Tim Bird, Corus Tubes Energy business director.