October 14, 2008

Nippon to supply line pipes to Woodside for Pluto LNG project

Nippon Steel has received an order with Mitsui and Co (Australia) Ltd’s for about 130,000 tonnes of carbon steel line pipes, the entire quantity required for Pluto LNG Project being developed by Woodside, Australia’s largest publicly traded oil and gas exploration and production company, , for delivery from the end of this year to the fall of 2008.

Broken down, the order is for about 120,000 tonnes of large diameter UO welded pipe and about 10,000 tonnes of high frequency electric resistance welded pipes. Nippon Steel would supply UO pipe 36 and 20 inches in outside diameter for the trunk line and HFERW pipe for the MEG line, 6 inches in outside diameter.

With the growing demand for natural gas as a clean source of energy, Australia is vigorously exploring the ocean floor for gas reserves. Particularly on the northwest continental shelf where there is a vast accumulation of gas deposits, many energy companies are positively planning natural gas projects.

The Pluto LNG Project undertaken by Woodside is Western Australia’s first LNG project in more the 25 years, transmitting natural gas from the gas field 180 kilometer offshore through the submarine pipeline to the new onshore LNG processing plant.