Additive Manufacturing for the Oil & Gas Industry

Having produced the first additively manufactured (AM) part for the Oil and Gas industry, we’re working closely with the sector to explore other ways in which this innovative technology can produce complex, lightweight parts.

The Titanium Gateway Manifold for pipelines has been certified by global engineering firm Lloyd’s Register. Virtually impossible to manufacture using traditional methods, the part went through a stringent certification process to ensure it was safe to use functionally having been manufactured using our metal AM technology.

Oil and Gas is an established industry tracing its origins back into the 19th Century and it is believed that the certification of the Gateway Manifold is an industry breakthrough for the market.

As an industry it has a number of similarities to the aerospace sector, where we are already very experienced, in that it needs short runs of technical products that operate in hostile environments. In addition to this, the Oil and Gas industry has, like aerospace, a global reach and they share similar challenges in their supply chains.

This need for short runs of complex products that are required around the world has moved the traditionally conservative industry to begin embracing AM. Oil and Gas companies are now looking to use AM in all areas of their production processes from drilling and surface operations, to storage and pipeline, processing and subsea equipment.

Additive manufacturing in the Oil and Gas industry is being used to reduce weight, allow SKU reduction, topological improvement, product simplification and to incorporate complex features. In addition to the technical advantages that AM bestows, each part can reduce stock holding and shorten supply lines, which is of benefit to an industry with locations throughout the world.  To give an example of this, an impellor used in the wells to move oil to the surface can take 10 days to manufacture using AM in contrast to the 3 months it can take to produce similar parts by traditional methods.

The design freedom that AM brings to a product is being utilised in a wide range of parts in the Oil and Gas industry.

Contact us today to see how additive manufacturing can give you a flexible solution through diverse production.