If you're an on-site machinist, you may be expected to work across a variety of industries - often carrying out in-situ jobs such as flange facing, hot tapping or pipe cutting. It goes without saying that the most important thing is to get the job done efficiently and effectively. But if you can demonstrate your knowledge of what goes on at the plant then your credibility can be enhanced - potentially leading to more work in the future.

Oil refining plants create a huge amount of on-site machining work,  so having a grasp of the main process involved will put you in a good position. The graphic we've created for you below shows the principle behind a fractionating column used to refine crude oil.

As part of our ongoing 25th anniversary celebrations, this week we’re breaking away from the usual portable machine tool insight and take a look at what has changed since Mirage Machines was founded back in 1993.

Despite a few bumps along the road, the energy industries have seen dramatic growth in output - Which is just as well when you look at the growth in the world's population.

Mirage in-situ machining products are used for many different applications across a wide range of industry sector. That's why do our best to keep up to date with the latest industry trends and predictions. This not only helps us forecast demand for products, but also drives our product development, sales and marketing strategies.

So what does the future hold for the sectors that generate work for the on-site machinist? Take a look at some recent predictions we’ve found from various of sources below.

Above: The Trans-Alaska Crude Oil Pipeline

Pipelines used in the oil and gas industry vary according to many factors, such as the ‘product’ to be transported, the delivery stage and whether it’s part of the upstream, midstream or downstream sector. If you are an experienced hot tapping engineer, you’ll already be up to speed on these. But for the rest of you, below are brief descriptions of the main types of pipeline and their overall purpose.

The decline of the oil industry has been predicted for many decades, but continued exploration uncovers new oil fields and new technologies continue to bring  previously inaccessible reserves within our reach.

This infographic, by courtesy of Chiltern Thrustbore, covers the concept of 'Peak Oil',  a theory which suggests that there will be a time in the future when the maximum rate of oil extraction is reached, followed by a decline bringing considerable economic impact across the world.

For those of you interested in finding out more about on-site machines used for maintaining oil wells and petrochemical installations, we recommend you take a look at the Mirage machines website, where you can view product specifications of portable machine tools, download case srtudies and watch videos.