John Crane Enters Sealing Tech, Services Agreement with Global Energy Company

John Crane signed a multi-year Global Framework Agreement (GFA) with a large-scale international energy company, establishing a partnership to improve equipment reliability, standardize performance across global operations, and solve critical roadblocks in seal management. Per the GFA, John Crane will deliver a wide range of sealing technologies and lifecycle services, including:

• Pump mechanical seals
• Compressor dry gas seals
• Seal support systems
• Reliability programs
• Field service engineering
• Failure analysis and overall training

“Our customers operate some of the most complex equipment in the world, and achieving reliability at scale requires consistency, discipline, and strong technical partnership,” said Philippe Lambert, Vice President, Commercial & Service at John Crane. “Through this agreement, we will support the customer in building a unified, global reliability framework that reduces operational risk, improves uptime, and ensures its critical rotating equipment performs predictably and efficiently.”

The agreement offers the customer a consistent reliability model across all participating sites and aligns with a plan to streamline supplier engagement and bolster global reliability governance across its asset portfolio. Also, it blazes a pathway for expanded dry gas seal support, improved lifecycle optimization, and broader reliability improvements in multiple regions.

A unified approach provides multiple benefits, such as improved operational reliability and uptime driven by the consistent application of methodologies; proactive failure prevention supported by organized lifecycle programs and technical governance; reduced complexity via the consolidation of sealing and service expertise; strengthened compliance with international standards like API and wider industry guidance; and efficient long-term planning enabled by synchronized service delivery and predictable technical support.

Previously, the undisclosed operator shifted its strategic focus from equipment availability to long-term reliability. Disparities in sealing technology, differing service levels across regions, and splintered supplier models were creating inconsistent reliability performance and unnecessary downtime at numerous sites. Due to these issues, the customer needed a unified global approach to enforce consistency, accountability, and quantifiable improvements for high-criticality equipment.

John Crane successfully installed its Managed Reliability Program (MRP) at the operator’s flagship refinery, making it a top-performing site for seal reliability and demonstrating the company’s ability to solve these challenges. The MRP introduced standardized reliability methodologies, proactive failure prevention, and stricter lifecycle governance, all contributing to notable performance improvement. This successful installment prompted the customer’s global leadership team to establish a broader, long-term partnership.

Performance Plus

In November 2025, John Crane launched a next-generation modular service framework to optimize and drive measurable performance enhancements for rotating machinery, dubbed Performance Plus. Supported by the company’s worldwide network of engineers across over 200 facilities in 50 countries, Performance Plus combines local expertise with global connectivity to provide customized, operationally specific service solutions.

The service framework combines data-driven monitoring, expert consultancy, and hands-on training to help turbomachinery users cut downtime, improve reliability, and enhance long-term resilience. It leverages John Crane’s Seal Reliability Management contracts, which are long-term service agreements intended to provide customers with continuous reliability improvement and predictable maintenance costs via proactive seal monitoring and support.

The company has already delivered over 1 million hours of active, in-field remote monitoring through advanced diagnostics tools like John Crane Sense Turbo, providing the real-world benefits of predictive maintenance and digital monitoring for turbomachinery. The new framework training and upskilling programs equip customer teams with the knowledge to preserve long-term performance, safety, and efficiency.