Castagra Coating Used for Offshore Fracking Vessel

After proving out its frac protection coatings in mobile and static frac and acid tanks, Castagra’s Ecodur veggie-plastic coating is being applied to one of the world’s largest offshore fracking ships in Houma, Louisiana.

“This is major progress for us,” commented CEO, Peter Roosen. “Our coatings have proven themselves in the harshest possible scenarios in the land-based fracking industries in Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado and Canada, especially with harsh acids.

“Now we have entered offshore fracking where, aside from frac liquids themselves, you have the additional exposure to corrosive salt conditions. This is very appropriate as we have had coatings on decks of large ferries for 20 years.”

Fracking in the Gulf of Mexico is forecast to increase more than 10 percent over a two year period ending in 2015 and oil service companies have increased the global fleet of fracking ships by 31 percent since 2007.

The big play is the Gulf of Mexico into hard, Lower Tertiary rocks at a mile or more deep more than 100 miles from the coast where wells can cost almost $100 million to drill.

“The oil service companies’ paramount concerns are maximum safety and integrity of the whole fracking process. On land it has been more than adequately demonstrated how acidic contents can corrode steel to the point of failure in a matter of weeks and sometimes even days,” stated Roosen.

“Our VOC-free, non-toxic Ecodur has a 20-plus year history of exceptional robustness in marine, and oil gas service use so coating the inside of a major stimulation vessel is a totally natural progression.”

Roosen said Ecodur, being a plasticized gypsum, has a much better ability to withstand the rigors associated with mobile where applications where mechanical shock is commonplace.

“I have seen six month old brand new ship decks where conventional epoxy has already micro-cracked and the first evidence of rust is showing. Ecodur sticks like crazy, and retains its elasticity for a decade or more. It can also, subject to proper preparation, be repaired as it retains a lifelong ability to have new Ecodur coatings bond 100 percent to the original coating.”

Castagra Products, Inc., is a leader in the multibillion dollar premium eco coatings industry with its non-toxic, VOC-free, solvent-free, plasticized gypsum coatings that have pioneered the industry and offer outstanding versatility and protection qualities particularly in the fracking industry with its unique challenges for protecting steel containers and pipes. The company has toll production operations in Texas and California.