The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
Fabric deal clinched by firm
A north-east energy service firm has clinched a distribution deal for a groundbreaking fabric that could be worth more than £1million in sales in the first year.
According to JBS Group (Scotland), founded as a boatbuilder in Peterhead 45 years ago, the Xtegra fabric can slash downtime offshore and save oil companies millions.
Houston- based AdvancedFabricTechnologies
“The Xtegra fabric can slash downtime offshore and save millions”
(AFT) holds the intellectual property rights for the material and picked familyrun JBS as the sole distributor for Xtegra last year.
JBS uses the fabric to make industrial blast containment curtains, two of which have been installed on North Sea platforms since November.
And the firm recently received a purchase order to supply another to a platform due for decommissioning.
The company said offshore oil and gas operators were losing about 24 hours every month because of mandatory pressure tests on platform manifolds.
During testing, there is a danger that valves could shoot out of the manifolds, with enough force to seriously injure somebody. But if the manifolds are covered with an Xtegra curtain, operators can keep their rig floors open, JBS said.
Shell UK identified a potential cost saving of more than £4million in just 18 months after the curtain was installed on the Ocean Patriot rig, the company added.
JBS regional manager John Dudgeon said the firm had been “really busy” since clinching the distribution deal.
It has taken on five new employees, taking the total to 45, to help keep up with demand.
Mr Dudgeon said: “We send guys out to the rig. They’ll do a survey and put together the 3D drawings and put a proposal together for the client.
“Once that’s accepted, we’ll buy the fabric from AFT, manufacture all the rail and tracking systems and do the installation.”
JBS is planning new facilities in the US and Middle East as it looks to take its product portfolio overseas.
It is keen to find out if its Sea Axe dredging tool can be combined with Xtegra, which can absorb and withstand blasts of up to 25,000 pounds per sq inch, to make a device for containing unexploded bombs in the sea.
J Buchan and Sons was established by father and son team John and Allan Buchan in 1974. Allan’s son, Scott, joined the company in 2002 and is now managing director.
The company changed its name to JBS Group in 2011.