• John Crane improves strength and performance of fiberglass sucker rods
  • Field trials began late April
  • Improvements are Company’s response to customers’ needs for better pull strength and reduced downtime

Sugar Land, Texas, May 6, 2015 – John Crane today announced it has begun field trials to test its next generation of fiberglass sucker rod designed to reduce operation downtime and improve pull-strength for oil well operators. The next generation design is a result of customer feedback requiring more strength and reliability of fiberglass sucker rods.

“We’ve utilized our vast engineering expertise to make significant advancements in the development of fiberglass sucker rods,” said Dustin Martin, engineering director, upstream pumping. “It demonstrates John Crane’s commitment to the continued growth of its customers and the oil and gas industry.”

The rod is manufactured at John Crane’s Big Spring, Texas location next to the new research and development lab that has advanced testing capabilities for quality assurance verification, and product development and analysis. The next generation fiberglass sucker rod provides oil producers added flexibility, particularly in more challenging well conditions such as wells with higher load requirements or corrosive conditions. The corrosion-resistant rod provides an average working load that is at least 25 percent higher than all other available fiberglass rod alternatives.

Additionally, it minimizes costly unplanned downtime with its increased ability to remove stuck pumps with a one-time pull load capacity that is at least 30 percent higher than other alternatives. It also facilitates easier and faster removal of rod strings due to a predictive end fitting failure mode at the connecting pin that alleviates fiberglass splintering and broom-sticking.

The next-generation fiberglass sucker rod is a direct replacement of previous generations of product with the same overall length.

“We have simplified the process of transitioning to the next-generation product by using the same materials and API-standard connections, which will allow more customers to realize its value quickly,” said Martin.

For more information about the next-generation fiberglass sucker rod field trials or John Crane’s products and services for the upstream oil and gas market, visit www.johncrane.com/productionsolutions or call 281-269-6860.

About John Crane

John Crane www.johncrane.com is a global leader in engineered technology, supplying engineered products and services to energy services customers and other major process industries. The company designs and manufactures a variety of products including mechanical seals, couplings, bearings, filtration systems and artificial lift equipment. John Crane employs about 6,900 people and has more than 230 sales and service facilities in 50 countries. Fiscal year 2014 revenues were $1.5 billion. It is part of Smiths Group www.smiths.com, a global leader in applying advanced technologies for markets in threat and contraband detection, energy, medical devices, communications and engineered components.