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PETROLEUM DIRECTORY: Oil and Gas Supply expands beyond the Kenai Peninsula The company is building on its successful industrial and hydraulic hose, fitting and supplies business by opening a facility in Anchorage Alan Bailey PNA Contributing Writer
Look at any item of heavy industrial equipment and chances are that you’ll find a network of hoses carrying the fluids that fuel or control anything from motors to hoists. Hydraulic hoses also form essential control components of heavy vehicles such as buses and trucks.
“Oil and Gas Supply is an industrial distributor specializing in industrial and hydraulic hoses, fittings and accessories,” John Brunton, Oil and Gas Supply Co. vice president, told PNA. “We also provide a wide variety of maintenance, repair and operating supplies — we’re doing pretty well down in Kenai and we’re hoping to do well in Anchorage.”
Started in the late '80s A group of Franklin Supply employees founded Oil and Gas Supply in Kenai in 1989. Franklin Supply had gone out of business on the Kenai Peninsula and the employees saw an opportunity to continue the hosing supply business that Franklin Supply had operated. The new company flourished by building an excellent reputation for its services on the Peninsula.
In 1995 John Brunton and his wife Jackie bought the company. Under the Bruntons’ ownership the company has expanded its services on the Peninsula and is now opening a facility in Anchorage.
Fabricating hose assemblies The fabrication of hose assemblies forms a significant part of Oil and Gas Supply’s services. The company can assemble lengths of hose to a customer’s specifications, or design and supply complete hydraulic systems, including pumps and valves.
“We can fabricate … hose from a quarter inch (diameter) up to two inch, with a 5,000 to 10,000 psi rating,” Brunton said.
Oil and Gas Supply technicians crimp fittings to the ends of the lengths of hose, so that the hose can be attached to equipment in the fluid or hydraulic system. By following the hose manufacturer’s specifications for the crimping, the technicians can ensure that joints and connections won’t leak or blow apart when under pressure.
“We have a couple of machines that do the crimping of the assemblage,” Brunton said. “The trick is to make sure that you have the right fittings with the right hose.”
Sometimes the technicians will hydrotest the hose assemblies by using testing equipment to hold the pressure in the hose at one-and-a-half times the required working pressure. The U.S. Coast Guard mandates this testing for hose that is used in proximity to water.
“The Coast Guard wants the hoses to be tested and labeled, saying that this has been tested on this date for water use only or for diesel or whatever,” Brunton said. “Down in Kenai if you’re delivering fuel or loading up ships, those hoses have to be tested every year.”
Maintenance and repair As well as fabricating hose assemblies and selling maintenance, repair and operating supplies, Oil and Gas Supply does maintenance work and has established maintenance agreements with some of the Cook Inlet oil producers, to troubleshoot and repair hydraulic systems.
“In Kenai … in addition to selling our regular industrial and hydraulic hose and ... supplies, we do in-house repairs of hydraulic components, valves, cylinders,” Brunton said. “We will either go out on site to someone’s fishing boat or piece of equipment and troubleshoot and repair hydraulic problems … or people will bring their cylinders, their valves, their pumps and motors into our facility.”
Product knowledge and design expertise Oil and Gas Supply's knowledge of the products that it sells and its expertise in designing systems can help customers avoid safety problems or costly design flaws.
With hydraulic systems at the heart of gear such as brakes and motor controls, the use of correctly assembled and rated equipment becomes critical to safety. Pumps, motors and valves also need to be sized properly and matched up so that they work together properly, otherwise equipment is liable to wear out and may need replacement.
For example, Sean Harwager, the Oil and Gas Supply's general manager and hydraulic technician in Kenai, had to retrofit three cranes for a customer in the Cook Inlet. The original hydraulic motors and pumps on the cranes weren’t powerful enough and kept burning out.
“They had Sean come out and look at it and he determined what the problem was,” Brunton said.
Top-of-the-line products Oil and Gas Supply supports its customers by distributing top-of-the-line equipment. The company’s Kenai facility is the local distributor for Swagelok fittings and stainless steel tubing. The company is also the distributor for Aeroquip hydraulic hose and fittings.
“Aeroquip didn’t have a distributor in Anchorage ... the opportunity came up for us to do that and I’m familiar with the product line,” Brunton said. “It’s a very well respected brand in the market.”
The Cook Inlet oil industry Customers on the Kenai Peninsula come mainly from the Cook Inlet oil industry — Oil and Gas Supply works with most of the main oil companies on the Peninsula, as well as the support companies.
“We sell a little bit to everyone, but the vast majority of our business is with the oil industry,” Brunton said.
Non-oil business includes the supply and maintenance of hydraulic systems for earth moving equipment and fishing vessels.
“We also have markets with the utilities, borough, city and state maintenance facilities, because they all use industrial and hydraulic hose,” Brunton said.
Prospects in Anchorage In Anchorage, Oil and Gas Supply expects its main customers to also come from the oil industry. However, the spectrum of potential customers is much broader in Anchorage than on the Kenai Peninsula.
“The marketplace itself is substantially larger here (in Anchorage),” Brunton said. “You have much bigger contractors in terms of road builders … plus the military, the railroad and the mining industries.”
Initially, the Anchorage facility is focusing on the supply of hosing products and maintenance, repair and operating supplies.
“Our strength in Anchorage is industrial rubber products — hose and fittings — whether they be industrial or hydraulic,” Brunton said.
However, the company expects to do some repair work for Anchorage-based customers, using the company’s repair facility in Kenai.
Building the business Another hosing supply company has been operating in the Anchorage market for a number of years and Brunton understands the difficulty of building a new business in the area.
“The biggest challenge is going to be market penetration and letting people know we’re here and, equally important, letting them remember that we are (here),” Brunton said. “We feel that there’s been a maturation and sophistication of the Anchorage marketplace and that it’s large enough to support another hydraulic and industrial hose supplier.”
And with employees who have individually amassed 20 to 30 years of experience in the industry, Brunton believes that his company can deliver exceptional service to its customers.
“We have quality products representing top-of-the-line manufacturers and just a wealth of experience, coupled with pretty competitive pricing and great service,” he said.
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