Rising demand for steel pipes saw Kuwait Pipe Industry & Oil Services Company (KPIOS) announcing a big spurt in annual sales during 2007.

The maker of pipes and pressure vessels and coating specialist said sales climbed from KD16.44 million ($61.6 million) to KD39.05 million, helping the company come out of the red. It made a profit of KD14.4 million compared with a loss of KD3.1 million a year earlier.
The company expects to increase its sales by as much as 25 per cent this year with the expectation that several major projects will enter the market.
KPIOS makes spiral welded steel pipes as per API specifications at its production facilities in the Sulaibiyah Industrial Area. Production capacity is 130,000 tonnes annually. The company has had permission since 1970 to use the monogram of the American Petroleum Institute and was for a long time the only company in the Middle East able to do so.
It undertakes corrosion-protection coating on pipe surfaces using epoxy and cement.
The company has a division to fabricate pressure vessels. It specialises in the supply of fitting accessories, heat exchangers, well heads, high-pressure gate valves and all connections related to natural gas lines as well as providing servicing, maintenance and repairs to clients in the oil sector.
The pressure vessel division operates through John Pickle Middle East (JPME).  JPME is authorised to use ASME code stamps U, U2, S and PP and the National Board R and NB stamps. It is certified to ISO 9001:2000.
KPIOS’ exports markets are the GCC states and the wider Middle East.
Projects it recently completed include supplies of 20-inch dia pipes for the HFO line from Subiya to MAA, a distance of 235 km, and 20 to 48-inch dia pipes for the 49 km KOC replacement of nine crude oil filling lines. The company also made supplies for the KOC gas oil pipeline from MAA to Subiya Power Station extending 200 km and a Ministry of Electricity and Water project for 18-inch dia steel pipes of length 26 km.
Among new products it introduced in recent months are the polypropylene external coating and FBE external coating.
KPIOS has sister companies in Abu Dhabi and Egypt for cement lining.