Oil & Gas

Tungum Tubing is widely used in the oil & gas market for high quality, safety critical applications

Why Tungum?

Tungum has been in use offshore since 1978 and industry awareness of its superiority for use in marine environments is increasingly evident as more and more operators question the use of stainless steel from both safety and economic viewpoints.

The application of our Tungum tubing into the offshore industry is based on:

superior corrosion protection

more information on corrosion resistance

  • BP has approved Tungum tubing for "non process" applications (GP36-15-1). Tungum has passed extensive testing and is segment defined for mitigating and preventing external corrosion on topside small bore tubing.

long life offshore

  • The long life of Tungum alloy compared to stainless steel gives significant down time savings -  a massive 4 - 6 times the life!

easy to work with

  • Tungum is relatively easy to bend which means fast installation times and reduced costs - typically 1/3 of the installation time of stainless steel.

industry compatible

  • Fits with all industry standard tube fittings. 

Offshore Usage

In salt-laden marine atmospheres, ‘316’ stainless steel is highly susceptible to crevice corrosion and chloride pitting. After just a few years of salt spray exposure, it may still look bright from a distance, but closer inspection reveals telltale signs of imminent failure to hold pressure.
Tungum alloy, however, possesses a natural protection mechanism whereby, on exposure to salt spray, a very thin oxide coating is generated over the exposed surface, no more than two thousandths of an inch thick, when complete. The tube becomes discoloured, it may even have a verdigris coating, but under the oxide layer the tube material is perfect and will remain so for a very long time.


PDF Case Studies:

Benefits for Diving Systems

Builders of diving equipment have found that the ductility and ease of installation of Tungum Tubing offers significant labour cost saving, when compared to stainless steel (as much as 40%.) A large saturation dive system may consist of three chambers, a hyperbaric lifeboat, a diving bell and its handling gear plus control cabin. Such an outfit can consume in excess of 5 km of tubing for the oxygen, mixed gas, air hydraulic and divers water heating system lines.

Where is Tungum used?


Tungum is being used for a variety of offshore applications, including:

Pipework on FPSOs (floating production, storage and offloading)

Oxygen lines due to the inherent safety of the material

Installations Using Tungum Tubing

Some offshore installations currently utilizing corrosion-resistant Tungum Tubing:


Britoil ‘Clyde’ Platform
Total ‘Dunbar’ Platform
E.E. Caledonia ‘Piper Bravo’ & ‘Saltire’ Platforms
BP ESV “Iolair’, ‘Sullean’ & ‘Buzzard’ Platforms
Houlder Offshore MSV ‘Uncle John’
QGPC ‘North Field’ Platform
Texaco ‘Captain’ Platform & Floater
Shell has standardised on Tungum Tubing for - ‘Eider’, ‘Tern’, ‘Southern Basin Revamp’, ‘Sole Pit MSV’, ‘Stadive’, ‘Golden Eye,’ ‘Sakhalin Isle’ & ‘Ursa’ in the Gulf of Mexico