Pipes and tubing

Offshore platforms require hundreds of kilometres of metal pipes and tubing for both drilling and ongoing oil and gas production. Several thousand joints of pipe and tubing of various sizes are stored at the Barry Beach Marine Terminal at any one time.

Production tubing, sometimes known as the production ‘string’, is the inner pipe used for the upward flow of oil, gas and water. It is comprised of 9.6 metre long joints of tubing screwed together to run into the hole by the drilling rig. Tubing with diameters of between 2 and 7 inches is used in Bass Strait wells; and larger diameter pipes, between 7 and 13 inches, are used for permanent well casing.

As the pipes are stored outside, it is important that they are thoroughly cleaned and serviced before being shipped out to the platforms for use. The Marine Terminal pipe shed cleans and services approximately 1,500 joints each month.