Development of Weldable Steels for North Sea Structures

The exploitation of North Sea oil and gas has spurred remarkable developments in several technological areas, and especially in steelmaking and welding. Since all the North Sea structures including drilling rigs, permanent wellhead platforms and pipelines had to be welded, steelmakers and welding engineers had to collaborate closely to develop weldable steels capable of meeting exceptionally stringent specifications. The story of how the technical personnel of the British Steel Corporation met the challenge makes inspiring reading.