Co-based alloys have played an important role in oil drilling for many years. They are
mostly used for resisting wear and corrosion in various forms, including castings, weld overlays, and
wrought sheets and bars. These alloys typically contain Cr, W and/or Mo. Most of them contain
relatively high C content in order to increase hardness for wear resistance but at the expense of
corrosion resistance. The alloying elements must be properly balanced to satisfy the requirements of
both corrosion and wear resistance for a given application in oil drilling. The issue of sulfide stress
corrosion cracking has not been well studied for these alloys since they are mostly used in conditions
that are not subject to such cracking. However, this needs to be clarified. This paper examines the
effects of the alloying elements of the Co-based alloys on the microstructure and their performance in
laboratory tests as well as various applications in oil drilling. Both traditional and recently developed
alloys are included. The test results of sulfide stress corrosion cracking of these alloys are also
presented and discussed.