LIBERTY Ostrava has completed a significant order to manufacture 11km of seamless tubes for the West Qurna oil field in the south of Iraq, one of the largest oil fields in the world. The tubes are made of high quality steel with high resilience to heat and acid.

“Projects for oil drilling companies are among the most demanding both from the technical point of view and the complete project execution. The fact that we have successfully completed the order during the highly demanding environment caused by the COVID-19 pandemic proves the quality of our products and our customer service.” says Martin Klosko, head of the Tubular Plant at LIBERTY Ostrava.

Unlike some products, Oil Country Tubular Goods (OCTGs) have to comply with the most stringent parameters and undergo a wide range of testing which confirm, among other things, that the material used for their production can weather even environments rich in sulphide acids. The Ostrava tubular mill delivered to Iraq nearly 11 km of seamless tubes, made of vacuum degassed steel, all of which was equipped with insulation which allow the pipes to resist temperatures of up to 80°C.

“The quality of the produced tubes had to be confirmed by a wide range of tests which were key to obtaining the orde, even being conducted in the presence of two assurance companies nominated by the customer.” adds Libor Kubíček, specialist in tube testing at LIBERTY Ostrava.

The West Qurna oil field (Phase II) contains up to 14 billion barrels of oil and stretches at an area of 340 square kilometres. It falls under the state-owned Iraq National Oil Company which manages oil drilling in the south of Iraq in cooperation with Lukoil multinational corporation.