SMI will start supplying 9-5/8” Range-3 CRA for Saudi Aramco’s challenging projects

July 8th, 2011 : SMI has been awarded, by Saudi Aramco, the supply of Corrosion Resistant Alloy for their high profile Arabiyah and Hasbah offshore gas development projects. Over 200,000ft of 9-5/8" OD CRA tubing (SM2535 & SM2550) in Range 3 length will be supplied to Saudi Aramco starting from Autumn this year: the first ever mass production order of Range 3 large OD CRA.

The production from these 2 fields is expected to reach 2.5 MMSCFD for domestic usage in the Kingdom, and Saudi Aramco challenging well design calls for 9 5/8” monobore production tubing.

Because of the corrosive nature of the produced gas, the production tubing for both Arabiyah and Hasbah are made out of high alloy/CRA material :
              - SM2535-110 (ISO13680 Group 3, Category 25-32-3) for Arabiyah
              - SM2550-110 (ISO13680 Group 4, Category 25-50-6) for Hasbah

 In order to optimize running time, minimize the number of connections and enhance the overall production system reliability, Saudi Aramco challenged Sumitomo Metals to produce large diameter CRA tubing in Range 3 length.
Close communications established through the past supply of CRA material for the Karan offshore gas development between Saudi Aramco and SMI allowed a detailed understanding of the customer’s technical needs to achieve such an ambitious project.
As a result of strict tender evaluation, Saudi Aramco selected Sumitomo Metals because of its full QA/QC control over the complete manufacturing process and unrivalled CRA supply record.
Sumitomo Metals is pleased to be part of this exciting technical challenge along with Saudi Aramco.
SMI seized this opportunity with great enthusiasm. It will enable SMI to further develop its experience and innovation capability in manufacturing CRA products for the highest profile projects all over the world.