3M oil and Gas (O & G), a market initiative of 3M, the technology company that produces thousands of innovative products for dozens of diverse industries, has announced that it has partnered with the UAE’s Gulf Automation Services and Oilfield Supplies company (Gasos) to distribute a wide range of 3M products throughout the country to customers in the oil and gas industry.

Gasos, which is a leader in providing technology and services to the oil and gas sector in the UAE has over 30 years of experience, and was selected as 3M’s distribution partner based on the company’s in depth industry knowledge and expertise.
“3M oil and gas is one of our strongest initiatives in the Gulf region due to the proliferation of petroleum in the UAE and its importance as an economic driver,” explains AbdelRhman Obaid, country business leader 3M. “As such, we needed a partner that had a thorough understanding of the UAE’s O&G industry, to enable 3M’s vast spectrum of products for the sector to reach as many industry stakeholders as possible. Gasos demonstrated that they were the right choice for our business, having provided many pioneering services to the oil and gas industry in the UAE.”
As part of the agreement, the company will be distributing a wide variety of 3M products that can help oil and gas industry customers increase productivity, improve performance and maintain safety. Included among them are corrosion protection products and liquid coatings for protecting steel pipelines and fittings. These also help to reduce maintenance costs and the risk of pipeline failure.
Gasos will also be responsible for distributing a range of 3M electrical devices and accessories which are designed for long term reliability and help reduce the chance of electrical failures. The range includes tapes, terminations, splices, motor leads and cable accessories. 3M Dynatel pipeline marking and locating products will additionally be distributed by Gasos, for locating faults, accurate marking and relocation of buried facilities.
Samir Al Gharbi, general manager Gasos says; “Our partnership with 3M is a very important step forward for the region’s oil and gas industry. Through our expertise and our existing strong partnerships with organisations in the sector, we can effectively promote the right 3M products to match these needs and together ensure greater productivity, efficiency and safety for the UAE’s O&G sector.”
3M has been supplying products to the oil and gas business for over 50 years. Today, nearly 10,000 3M products are available in every corner of the industry – from exploration and production to transportation, refining and marketing, and are delivered to over 30 oil and gas producing countries around the world.
Meanwhile, in anothe significnat development, a wave of eight recent acquisitions, across diverse products and technologies, is supporting the growth of 3M’s oil and gas business. The complementary acquisitions are strengthening and expanding the 3M oil and gas business’ product line, allowing the business to provide a greater breadth and depth of solutions to its customers. While visiting the 3M booth (#1473), attendees at the Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) can learn more about the new technologies and how they augment existing 3M product lines. The new and expanded technologies have a variety of applications in the oil and gas industry. These companies and technologies include:
• Aearo Technologies, a manufacturer of personal protection and energy absorbing products, augments 3M’s existing line of occupational health and environmental safety products. Aearo’s globally recognised brands, E-A-R, Peltor and SafeWaze, will bring hearing protection, eyewear and fall protection product offerings to 3M’s lineup of personal protective equipment, including its leading respiratory protection products. The SafeWaze fall protection line includes lifeline systems, positioning equipment and ladder climb systems for height safety on oil rigs and in confined spaces. The acquisition was completed April 1, 2008;
• Hitech Polymers, was acquired by Dyneon, a 3M company, in March 2008. Hitech Polymers specialises in specialty thermoplastic polymers and toll thermoplastic compounding services. Thermoplastics are used in the oil and gas industry, as well as others, within molded plastic parts, pumps and valves;
• Venture Tape, was acquired on October 1, 2007, by 3M’s Industrial Adhesives and Tape Division (IATD). Venture Tape manufactures a broad range of tapes used in construction; oil and gas; heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC); electronics; aerospace; marine and appliance markets;
• Rite-Lok Adhesives expands 3M’s portfolio of industrial adhesives by adding cyanoacrylates, anaerobics, structural adhesives, UV curing adhesives, silicones, activators, primers and cleaners. The acquisition brings over 80 new products to 3M;
• E Wood Holdings, a manufacturer of high-performance protective coatings and linings for oil and gas and water treatment systems, brings new corrosion protection technologies to 3M’s Corrosion Protection Products Division. E Wood’s expertise in liquid technologies for new pipes and rehabilitation coatings for existing pipes builds on 3M’s leadership in external and internal fusion-bonded epoxy coatings for new oil and gas pipelines;
• Aerion Technologies, a manufacturer of environmental monitoring products, expands 3M’s spectrum of safety products with portable and fixed gas detection systems. Aerion’s heat stress monitors and thermal imaging camera lines are also part of 3M’s product lineup;  
• General Industrial Diamond, a leading manufacturer of superabrasive grinding wheels used by oil and gas equipment manufacturers to dimension and finish hard-to-grind materials, broadens 3M’s existing superabrasives platform; and
• Cuno Incorporated, a 3M company, designs, manufactures and markets a comprehensive line of filtration products for the separation, clarification and purification of fluids and gases. Cuno’s filtration products are used in the oil and gas industry in critical applications where process equipment protection and effluent quality are paramount. In upstream production processes, these include waterflooding, well completions and glycol dehydration.