Metal additive manufacturing company Sintavia LLC is primarily known in the industry for serving the aerospace and defense industries with its varied and cutting-edge manufacturing capabilities. A recent partnership announcement, however, has signalled that the Florida-based company is expanding its offering into the oil and gas industry.

Sintavia has signed a term sheet to form a new joint venture in partnership with Howco Group, a supplier and processor of metal alloys to the oil & gas industry. The joint venture, which will be branded under the Howco Group name, will support the development of additive manufacturing within the oil and gas sector.

The joint venture between Sintavia and Howco is expected to launch operations later this year and will be co-located at Howco’s North American headquarters in Houston, Texas. Howco is a wholly owned subsidiary of Japan’s Sumitomo Corporation.

“Many of the proprietary additive manufacturing processes that Sintavia has developed for the Aerospace & Defense industry apply equally to the Oil & Gas industry,” commented Brian Neff, Sintavia’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “We are excited to work with Howco to deliver the economic and technical benefits of AM to our joint customers in the Oil & Gas industry.”

Despite a growing need to divest from non-renewable energy, the oil and gas industry is becoming an important sector for additive manufacturing applications. In a recent report by SmarTech Analysis, for instance, the market forecasting firm projects that the increasing adoption of AM by oil and gas industry suppliers will result in a $2 billion opportunity by 2029.

The joint venture initiated by Sintavia and Howco Group will primarily focus on using materials that are common in the aerospace and defense and oil and gas industries, including nickel alloys and stainless steel. Other details about the joint venture have yet to be disclosed.

Last month, Sintavia also announced the opening of a 55,000 square foot facility in Hollywood, Florida that will operate as the company’s new headquarters. The Florida facility houses over $25 million worth of advanced manufacturing equipment, including medium- and large-scale metal 3D printers, EDMs, post-processing machines, wet-booths and furnaces for sintering.