Passionate about the product is how Technip's SVP subsea assets and technologies Alain Marion sums up his company's feeling about supplying flexible pipe. Meg Chesshyre visited Le Trait, in Normandy, to see the Flexi France plant in action and hear senior management's views on upcoming market opportunities and current technological trends.
The workforce at Le Trait comprises 950 people, including 650 for the factory, 110 for the R&D and 85 for the offshore base, explains Flexi France CEO Phillippe Enxeriéan. Recent additions to the facility, which currently handles around 50 projects and 100 different pipe structures per year, include a new 3500t storage carousel and a 400t, 40m crane.
Since 1974, Le Trait has produced over 7000km of risers and flowlines and 15,000 connectors. Diameters range from 11/2in to 19in ID; pressure can be up to up to 20,000psi; temperature to 130°C and operating depth to 3000m.
According to Enxeriéan, West Africa, India and the Middle East comprise 68% of Flexi France's market today, followed by the North Sea (19%), North America (7%), Asia (5%) and Brazil (1%).
In addition to Flexi France, Le Trait, Technip has the Flexibrás' flexible pipe manufacturing plant at Vitória, Brazil, with a workforce of 1200 and a flexible pipe capacity of 380km. The company also expects to start up its new Asiaflex plant in Tanjung Langsat, Malaysia, with a flexpipe manufacturing capacity of 150km, at the end of 2010.
Technip also has three umbilical manufacturing locations – Duco in Newcastle, UK, with a steel/plastic umbilical capacity of 300km; Duco in Houston, US, with a steel umbilical capacity of 300km, and Angoflex in Lobito, Angola, with a steel umbilical capacity of 100km – along with spool bases at Mobile, Alabama; Barra do Riacho, Brazil; Evanton, UK; Orkanger, Norway; and Dande, Angola.
Reviewing the current subsea market, Technip's subsea division president Dominique de Soras notes that the North Sea market is down, but the future looks better; the Gulf of Mexico is currently steady, but the future looks good; in Africa there are delays, but Nigeria is showing signs of improvement; Egypt is still moving; Brazil is steady, but the impact of Tupi etc has yet to be felt; and the Asia Pacific market is also steady with deepwater coming.
De Soras sees 2010 being a reasonable year revenue-wise, but not a top one. Execution-wise it is mainly from backlog. He expects the North Sea market to pick up in the second half of the year, with more tenders now coming in. The North Sea saw a higher level of repair and maintenance activity in 2009, but this could possibly soften in 2010. Le Trait's work is all non-standard and tailor-made, stresses de Soras. ‘It is not a sausage or car factory. The more complex the fluid, the more a flexible pipe solution is appropriate.'
Technip is a subsea leader in terms of performance, with a robust track record over the past 10 years, and with its vertical integration and project management capabilities, commitment to top-of-the-range technology and stateof- the-art assets supported by a massive investment programme (OE November 2009) the company wishes to remain ‘Number 1', says de Soras. The company has a subsea staff of 7500 and a permanent presence in all key markets (Europe and Africa 4500, North America 500, Brazil 200, Asia Pacific 500).
He cites Tullow Ghana's Jubilee field as a good example of his company's ‘seamless business model'. Project execution for Jubilee's risers and flowlines involves Technip's centres in Paris, Houston and Africa, with flexpipe fabrication taking place in Le Trait and PLET fabrication in the Pori yard in Finland, and the Deep Blue and Deep Pioneer vessels booked to lay the field's rigid and flexible flowlines respectively. Offshore installation is scheduled early this year in 1200-1700m water depths.
Another current project, fabrication and installation of hybrid free standing riser towers for Petrobras' Cascade/ Chinook project in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico, has an even broader geographical reach, notes de Soras. It involves engineering teams from offshore and subsea divisions from Technip's offices in Houston, Brazil, Paris, Canada and the UK, with fabrication of buoyancy cans, stress joints and suction piles undertaken at Pori and flexible pipe at Le Trait. Installation was completed recently in record 2500-2640m water depths.
Providing a regional overview of technological challenges and trends, Alain Marion, Technip SVP subsea assets & technologies, outlines the various issues and requirements associated with the key flexpipe markets:
According to Marion, Technip's subsea R&D expenditure reached €36 million last year, 70% of it devoted to flexible pipe and the remainder to rigid pipe (12%), umbilicals (7%), hybrid technologies (6%) and offshore installation (4%). He cites ultra-deep water (with 3000m developments now in sight), HP/HT, corrosive fluids, enhanced recovery systems and flow assurance as the industry's new frontiers and challenges.
Deep immersion tests are currently underway in the Gulf of Mexico using Deep Pioneer with the following technical objectives: qualifying 11in sweet service flexpipe for 3000m of water; determining the water depth limit for 11in sour service flexpipe – 7in sour service is currently considered okay for 3000m; improving prediction of lateral buckling of armour wires; and validating caisson tests.
Marion sees integrated production bundles (IPB) as a step change in flow assurance for ultra-deepwater developments. Integration of gas lift tubes in the production riser offers definite benefits, he says, taking advantage of heat from produced fluid and obviating the need for extra insulation of the gas lift lines, with fewer risers and simplified seabed connection. Following successful implementation on Total Dalia (OE August 2007) the IPB technology is now being applied on another major project offshore Angola, Pazflor. OE