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Department of Justice Issues Notice on Corrosion Under Insulation Research Group

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On January 6, 2025, the Cooperative Research Group Corrosion Under Insulation–Phase 2 (CUI–Phase 2) filed written notifications with the Attorney General and the Federal Trade Commission. This was done under section 6(a) of the National Cooperative Research and Production Act of 1993.

The notifications shared the names of all parties involved in the venture. These parties are:

  • Conoco Phillips Company, Houston, TX
  • Nanotech Inc., Houston, TX
  • Armancell Engineered Systems Ltd., London, UNITED KINGDOM
  • The Sherwin Williams Company, Cleveland, OH
  • PPG Industries, Incorporated, Pittsburgh, PA
  • International Paint LLC, Houston, TX
  • Superior Products International II, Inc., Shawnee, KS
  • Promat Incorporated, Maryville, TN
  • Jotun A/S, Sandefjord, KINGDOM OF NORWAY
  • Hempel A/S, Lyngby, KINGDOM OF DENMARK
  • BP America Production Company, Houston, TX
  • Air Products and Chemicals, Inc., Allentown, PA
  • Aspen Aerogels, Inc., Marlborough, MA
  • Exxonmobil Technology and Engineering, Spring, TX
  • Equinor Energy AS, Stavanger, KINGDOM OF NORWAY

The notice explained that these notifications were filed to use the Act’s provisions. These provisions can limit the damages recoverable by antitrust plaintiffs to actual damages in certain situations.

The CUI–Phase 2 group will focus on testing protective coatings and insulation products. This includes insulative coatings using the TM21442 test method and similar methods. The tests will happen in both laboratory and field settings.

Phase 2 of the project will also use laboratory setups to test new sensing technologies for Corrosion Under Insulation. Early tests will check a range of CUI sensors and compare how they perform. The test methods described above will be used.

The CUI Phase 2 group has four main technical tasks:

  • Performance testing of CUI Protective Coating/Insulation Systems
  • Performance evaluation of CUI Insulative Coatings
  • Performance evaluation of CUI Insulative Coatings
  • Preliminary evaluation of CUI Sensors

Suzanne Morris, Deputy Director of Civil Enforcement Operations in the Antitrust Division, signed the notice.

The full notice appears in the Federal Register, Volume 90, Number 113 (Friday, June 13, 2025), on page 25080.


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