Kuwait Pipe Industries and Oil Services (KPIOS) has announced it plans to install a longitudinal submerged arc welded (LSAW) pipe mill this year or the next.

The pipes will be produced in diameters of 16 to 60 inches and capacity at the mill is planned at 288,000 tonnes annually.

KPIOS also announced that it was studying the feasibility of constructing a laboratory for corrosion testing according to Nace International specifications.

The company is currently involved in three major projects including delivering to Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) pipes of a total length of 247 km, the company announced.

The KOC order includes pipe diameters of 52 inches and 48 inches.

KPIOS is also supplying 92 km of pipes of 64-inch diameter to Kuwait’s Ministry of Electricity and Water. In the third ongoing supply, the company has to supply 130 km of pipes of 72-inch diameter to Saudi Arabia’s Saline Water Conversion Corporation (SWCC).

The company’s range of services includes coating pipes with polyethylene, polypropylene, epoxy, fusion-bonded epoxy and lining with cement.

The company can produce pipes relating to API 5L, ASTM and BSS or customised items. The manufacturing facilities have capacity of 240,00 tonnes annually and the pipes come in diameters ranging from 16 inches to 120 inches with a maximum wall thickness of 1 inch. The company is proud it can use the API 5L monogram and is a recipient of the ISO 9001:2008 certification.

Activity at the KPIOS manufacturing complex

Facilities and equipment at its manufacturing complex include the latest CNC machines, the company says. It serves the oil industry by undertaking manufacturing, repairs, threading and computerised bucking services.

Established in 1966, KPIOS’ production facilities are located in Kuwait’s Sulaybiyah Industrial District. Several thousands of kilometers of the company’s pipelines are currently serving industries and communities in the Middle East, Asia and Africa.

 
In 2010 the company reported sales of KD55.79 million ($203 million) against KD36.55 million in the previous year. The gross profit for 2010 was KD1.5 million against KD1.7 million a year before.

Completed projects

Among major projects the company implemented in recent years was one for Heisco to which it provided external polypropylene coating. It supplied carbon steel pipes for SKEC, Korea, for the GC-24 project at Sabriyah Field, North Kuwait. The final user was KOC.

It also supplied 4.7 km of carbon steel pipes of 30-inch diameter to Abdukarim Holding Company, Saudi Arabia.

Wahida Al Dafiri, commercial manager, KPIOS, said among the challenges the company faced was minimising costs and maximising operational services. The company was also faced with low-priced products shipped by overseas manufacturers and delays in payment for goods it supplied.

'Our goal is to provide good customer service and better utilisation of plants and equipment,' said Al Dafiri.