Oil and gas casing is finding a new life as agricultural fencing, with Pickles Auctions seeing increasing popularity for this purpose
Australian farmers are renowned for their ingenuity and finding unique but effective solutions to situations which arise.
When alternative products can be hundreds of kilometres away, the concepts of repurposing equipment or making do with what you have are second nature to many in the nation’s most remote areas.
These scenarios can present opportunities, and a realisation that something unexpected can be a surprise hit.
One such scenario is the growing popularity of used oil and gas casing as viable fencing for agricultural fencing.
The origins of this can be traced back to around 2015 when Hassalls Auctions – which was acquired by Pickles Auctions in 2018 – began auctioning oil and gas casing, sucker rod, and drill pipe.
This casing was initially sold to scrap dealers, before the idea of using it as rural and agricultural fencing began to get momentum around two years later.
This began with traditional on-site auctions, Pickles sales and account coordinator Clinton Taylor explains, where buyers would bid for semi-trailer loads per lot.
In the beginning, there were between 40 and 70 trailer loads sold monthly.
From there, the concept has grown in popularity – proving a lucrative business for Pickles since the acquisition of Hassalls – and has also seen a changing demographic in the buyers attending monthly online auctions.
“As we approached 2018 and 2019, the casing movement established a solid standing as an option for fencing for farmers and landowners,” Taylor says.
“Originally, a handful of major buyers focused on this asset wholesale and would purchase through Pickles, cut the pipe to their buyers’ desired length, re-sell and provide transport to the buyer.
“In today’s market, many more buyers come directly to source through our monthly online auctions, thus cutting out the middleman and purchasing the asset at a better price.”
This use of the oil and gas pipe is a shrewd one, given it is no longer suitable for its primary use in drilling.
From a sustainability point of view, Taylor says fencing would be the best alternative for this used casing rather than simply scrapping it.
There are three primary sizes of casing which feature in Pickles’ monthly auctions.
All of these are at 9.2m lengths but the diameter varies – with 60mm, 73mm and 89mm diameters being the common thickness.
From there, Taylor says the buyer usually cuts the casing into three primary sizes – 2.2m, 3m or 4.6m – which represent about a quarter, third, and half of the total length respectively, although it can be cut into any desired length.
As an economical and sustainable alternative to traditional fencing, it is little surprise Pickles has seen a sharp increase in the popularity of the monthly casing auctions.
“From 2015 to now, the casing sales have seen a significant rise in both price and buyers,” Taylor says.
“We currently sell upwards of 13,000 lengths each month directly from our auction facility in Miles, Queensland, and these buyers are now the majority of end users.”
These monthly auctions are held online and can be accessed from anywhere in Australia.
Photos of auction lots are posted in advance for buyers to browse the available range, with in person viewing days from its site in Miles available by appointment only.
To bid in Pickles’ monthly casing auctions, or to find out more about the company’s other auctions, visit www.pickles.com.au