North East subsea manufacturer Express Engineering has invested a six-figure sum in new welding equipment at its recently launched Gateshead base.
The investment is part of a move that relocates Express' welding department to a newly refurbished facility - including new carbon steel specific welding area which can accommodate parts up to five tonnes.
The precision welding equipment and facilities give Express new capabilities to service customers in oil and gas exploration and production across areas including the North Sea, Gulf of Mexico, east coast of Brazil, east and west coasts of Africa and Australasia.
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Express - which supplies energy players such as TechnipFMC, Baker Hughes and Aker Solutions - opened its purpose-built £3.5m Team Valley assembly and test centre in April last year as it aims to continue developing key global markets.
This latest investment includes new 20 tonne capacity Fronius endless torch rotation (ETR) equipment and two new welders who bring both cladding and butt-welding experience to the Express team. Gary Thirlwell, managing director, said the investment would provide advantages over other conventional systems as well as applications.
He said: “We now offer a full range of specialist welding services, ranging from simple corrosion resistant overlay (cladding) all the way to precision pipe welding and fabrication in exotic alloys. We are developing products for all areas of oil and gas exploration and production, from the inter-surface arena to below-the-mud line operations.
“Our extended capabilities will see us not only able to improve the support current oil and gas customers enjoy, but also expand our precision welding services into a wider range of industrial applications such as the nuclear and defence sectors.”
Express also said it is moving further into the development of "below-the-mudline" products with a series of tools developed as part of projects for international energy technology companies.
