Offshore staff
IRVING, Texas – ExxonMobil has granted Nippon Steel the world’s first license for patented field welding technology used to construct high-pressure pipelines made with X120 ultra high-strength steel linepipe.
The X120 welding technology uses the pulsed gas metal arc welding process (PGMAW) with a proprietary solid welding wire and argon-based shielding gas to achieve high-strength welds with high toughness.
The technology now licensed by ExxonMobil to Nippon Steel also includes the right to manufacture the proprietary welding wire. The signing of the license agreement makes Nippon Steel the world’s first and sole pipe manufacturer having available both a mill to manufacture X120 linepipe and ExxonMobil welding technology for pipeline construction.
X120 ultra high-strength linepipe was jointly developed by ExxonMobil’s Upstream Research Company and Nippon Steel.
08/10/2011
