AGR Group’s Drill Pipe Factory pushes the button on production

Harald Vebenstad, General Manager of the drill pipe factory commented;

“It is very rewarding to get the factory up and running after some delays. We anticipate producing 75 pipes per week within 2-3 weeks and then progressively ramping up production through a staged progression. Our next step will be to raise production to 112 pipes, followed by 225 pipes per week. We then anticipate progressing to a 2nd shift in the latter half of 2008 enabling us to produce 400 drill pipes per week.

We are pleased with the interest in our product, with major Norwegian oil & gas businesses knocking on our door”.

The drill pipe factory’s initial focus is producing 5” drill pipe, but has the capacity to produce up to 5 ½” drill pipe, with production complying, at a minimum, to the ISO 11961 standard. The factory currently employs 11 people, with the aim to progressively increase to 20 following production increases.

Clients will come from around the globe, with particular demand anticipated from those with operations in the North Sea, due to the pipes ability to deal with temperatures at -10c to -15c. AGR Group has contracted Stable Services ltd to handle sales.

In conjunction with commencing production, AGR’s drill pipe business, formerly known as AGR Mongstad AS is to be renamed AGR dpal AS (Drill Pipe Assembly Line).