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Operations

We design, manufacture and
sell capital equipment utilized
on floating production systems,
subsea pipelines, offshore
drilling rigs and vessels.

Home | Operations | Offshore/Manufactured Products

Offshore/Manufactured Products

Our Offshore/Manufactured Products segment provides technology-driven, highly-engineered products and services for offshore oil and natural gas production systems and facilities, as well as certain products and services to the offshore and land-based drilling and completion markets. Our products and services used primarily in deepwater producing regions include our FlexJoint® technology, advanced connector systems, high-pressure riser systems, compact valves, deepwater mooring systems, cranes, subsea pipeline products, specialty welding, fabrication, cladding and machining services, offshore installation services and inspection and repair services. In addition, we design, manufacture and market numerous other products and services used in both land and offshore drilling and completion activities and by non-oil and gas customers, including consumable downhole elastomer products used in onshore completion activities, valves and sound and vibration dampening products used in military applications. We have facilities that support our Offshore/Manufactured Products segment in Arlington, Houston and Lampasas, Texas; Houma, Louisiana; Oklahoma City and Tulsa, Oklahoma; the United Kingdom; Brazil; Singapore; Spain; India; Thailand; Vietnam; and the United Arab Emirates.

Offshore Development and Drilling Activities

We design, manufacture, inspect, assemble, repair, test and market equipment for mooring, pipeline, production and drilling risers, and subsea applications along with equipment for offshore vessel and rig construction. Our products are components of equipment used for the drilling and production of oil and natural gas wells on offshore fixed platforms and mobile production units, including floating platforms, such as tension leg platforms, floating production, storage and offloading ("FPSO") vessels, Spars (defined below), and other marine vessels and offshore rigs. Our products and services include:

  • flexible bearings and advanced connection systems;
  • casing and conductor connections and joints;
  • subsea pipeline products;
  • compact ball valves, manifold system components and diverter valves;
  • marine winches, mooring systems, cranes and other heavy-lift rig equipment;
  • production, workover, completion and drilling riser systems and their related repair services;
  • blowout preventer ("BOP") stack assembly, integration, testing and repair services;
  • consumable downhole products; and
  • other products and services, including welding, cladding and other metallurgical technologies.

Flexible Bearings and Advanced Connection Systems

We are the key supplier of flexible bearings, or FlexJoint® connectors, to the offshore oil and natural gas industry as well as weld-on connectors and fittings that join lengths of large diameter conductors or casing used in offshore drilling and production operations. A FlexJoint® is a flexible bearing that allows for rotational movement of a riser or tension leg platform tether while under high tension and/or pressure. When positioned at the top, bottom, or, in some cases, middle of a deepwater riser, it reduces the stress and loads on the riser while compensating for pitch and rotational forces on the riser as the production facility or drilling rig moves with ocean forces. FlexJoint® connectors are used on drilling, production and export risers and are used increasingly as offshore production moves to deeper water.

Drilling riser systems provide a vertical conduit between the floating drilling vessel and the subsea wellhead. Through the drilling riser, the drill string is guided into the well and drilling fluids are returned to the surface. Production riser systems provide the vertical conduit for the hydrocarbons from the subsea wellhead to the floating production facility. Oil and natural gas flows to the surface for processing through the production riser. Export risers provide the vertical conduit from the floating production facility to the subsea export pipelines. Our FlexJoint® connectors are a critical element in the construction and operation of production and export risers on floating production systems in deepwater.

Floating production systems, including FPSO facilities, tension leg platforms and Spars, are a significant means of producing oil and natural gas, particularly in deepwater environments. We provide many important products for the construction of these facilities. A tension leg platform ("TLP") is a floating platform that is moored by vertical pipes, or tethers, attached to both the platform and the sea floor. Our FlexJoint® tether bearings are used at the top and bottom connections of each of the tethers, and our Merlin® connectors are used to efficiently assemble the tether joints during offshore installation. An FPSO is a floating vessel, typically ship shaped, used to produce and process oil and natural gas from subsea wells. A "Spar" is a floating vertical cylindrical structure which is approximately six to seven times longer than its diameter and is anchored in place. Our FlexJoint® connectors are used to attach the various production, injection, import or export risers to all of these floating production systems.

Casing and Conductor Connections and Joints

Our advanced connection systems provide connectors used in various drilling and production applications offshore. These connectors are welded onto pipe to provide more efficient joint to joint connections with enhanced tensile and burst capabilities that exceed those of connections machined onto plain-end-pipe. Our connectors are reusable and pliable and, depending on the application, are equipped with metal-to-metal seals. We offer a suite of connectors offering differing specifications depending on the application. Our Merlin® connectors are our premier connectors combining superior static strength and fatigue life with fast, non-rotational make-up and a slim profile. Merlin® connectors have been used in sizes up to 60 inches (outside diameter) for applications including open-hole and tie-back casing, offshore conductor casing, pipeline risers and TLP tendons which moor the TLP to the sea floor.

Subsea Pipeline Products

We design and manufacture a variety of equipment used in the construction, maintenance, expansion and repair of offshore oil and natural gas pipelines. New construction equipment includes:

  • pipeline end manifolds and pipeline end terminals;
  • deep and shallow water pipeline connectors;
  • midline tie-in sleds;
  • forged steel Y-shaped connectors for joining two pipelines into one;
  • pressure-balanced safety joints for protecting pipelines and related equipment from anchor snags or a shifting sea-bottom;
  • electrical isolation joints; and
  • hot-tap clamps that allow new pipelines to be joined into existing lines without interrupting the flow of petroleum products.

We provide diverless connection systems for subsea flowlines and pipelines. Our HydroTech® collet connectors provide a high-integrity, proprietary metal-to-metal sealing system for the final hook-up of deep offshore pipelines and production systems. They also are used in diverless pipeline repair systems and future pipeline tie-in systems. Our lateral tie-in sled, which is installed with the original pipeline, allows a subsea tie-in to be made quickly and efficiently using proven HydroTech® connectors without costly offshore equipment mobilization and without shutting off product flow.

We provide pipeline repair hardware, including deepwater applications beyond the depth of diver intervention. Our products include:

  • repair clamps used to seal leaks and restore the structural integrity of a pipeline;
  • mechanical connectors used in repairing subsea pipelines without having to weld;
  • misalignment and swivel ring flanges; and
  • pipe recovery tools for recovering dropped or damaged pipelines.

Compact Ball Valves, Manifold System Components and Diverter Valves

Our Piper Valve division designs and manufactures compact high-pressure valves and manifold system components for all environments of the oil and gas industry including onshore, offshore, drilling and subsea applications. Our valve and manifold bores are designed to closely match the inside diameter of the required pipe schedule to eliminate piping transition areas, minimize erosion and system friction pressure loss, and to result in a more efficient flow path. Our floating ball valve design with its large ball/seat interface has over 30 years of proven field application in upstream unprocessed produced liquids and gasses, providing reliable service. Oil States Piper Valve Optimum Flow Technology allows end users to maximize space, minimize weight and increase production.

Marine Winches, Mooring Systems, Cranes and other Heavy-Lift Rig Equipment

We design, engineer and manufacture marine winches, mooring systems, cranes and certain rig equipment. Our Skagit® winches are engineered for mooring floating and semi-submersible drilling rigs as well as positioning pipelay and derrick barges, anchor handling boats and jack-ups. Our Nautilus® marine cranes are used on production platforms throughout the world. We also design and fabricate rig equipment such as automatic pipe racking systems, BOP handling equipment, and handling equipment used in the installation of offshore wind turbine platforms. Our engineering teams, manufacturing capability and service technicians, who install and service our products, provide our customers with a broad range of equipment and services to support their operations. Aftermarket service and support for our installed base of equipment to our customers is also an important source of revenue to us.

Production, Workover, Completion, Drilling and Mineral Gathering Riser Systems and their related repair services.

Utilizing our welding technology group's expertise, we continue to extend the boundaries of our Merlin® connector technology with the design and manufacture of multiple riser systems. The unique Merlin® connection is a proven, robust solution for even the most demanding high-pressure (up to 20,000 psi) riser systems used in high-fatigue, deepwater applications. Our riser systems are designed to meet a range of static and fatigue stresses on par with those of our Tension Leg Element connectors. The connector can be welded or machined directly onto upset riser pipe and provide sufficient material to perform repair or "re-cuts" after extended service. We believe that our marine riser offers superior tension capabilities together with one of the fastest run times in the industry. Auxiliary riser system components and running tools, along with full-service inspection and repair of these riser systems are available.

In 2020 and 2021, we were awarded contracts to design and supply a new deepwater riser system (including automated tooling, a control system and marine riser) to collect polymetallic nodules from the sea floor. This mineral gathering riser system applies our 30-plus years of experience in providing marine riser systems for the oil and gas industry to a new market, driven by the energy transition.

BOP Stack Assembly, Integration, Testing and Repair Services

While not typically a manufacturer of BOP components, we design and fabricate lifting and protection frames for BOP stacks and offer the complete system integration of BOP stacks and subsea production trees. We can provide complete turnkey and design fabrication services. We also design and manufacture a variety of custom subsea equipment, such as riser flotation tank systems, guide bases, running tools and manifolds. In addition, we also offer BOP and drilling riser testing and repair services.

Consumable Downhole Products

North American shale play development has expanded the need for more advanced completion tools. In order to reduce well completion costs, minimizing the time to drill out tools is very important. Our Offshore/Manufactured Products segment has leveraged its knowledge of molded thermoset composites and elastomers to help meet this demand. For example, we have had success in developing and producing composite drillable zonal isolation tools (i.e., bridge/frac plugs) utilizing design and production techniques that reduce cost while still delivering high-quality performance. Time to drill out is significantly reduced in comparison to other filament wound products in the market. Our products include: Swab Cups; Rod Guides/Centralizers; Gate Valve and Butterfly Valve Seats; Casing and Cementing Products; and service tools. 

Other Products & Services

Our Offshore/Manufactured Products segment also produces a variety of products for use in industrial, military and other applications outside the oil and gas industry. For example, we provide: sound and vibration isolation equipment for marine vessels; metal-elastomeric FlexJoint® bearings used in a variety of naval and marine applications; products used in the construction and maintenance of offshore wind projects; and drum-clutches and brakes for heavy-duty power transmission in the mining, paper, logging and marine industries.

For more information about our Offshore/Manufactured Products business, please visit: http://oilstates.com/

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