Fossil energy – Brazil
Strohm has announced a game-changing joint industry programme (JIP) with Petrobras and Shell for its Thermoplastic Composite Pipe (TCP) Flowline and Riser technology.
The contract has the potential to revolutionise the deepwater flowline and riser market in Brazil and beyond with a corrosion-free solution that has a 30-year design life.
It is the world’s most advanced programme to bring TCP Flowline and Risers offshore under actual field conditions.
Strohm CCO Martin van Onna told Ocean Energy Resources that the four-year award coincides with a production capacity expansion at its premises in The Netherlands as part of its ongoing growth strategy.
The JIP has also extended its footprint in Brazil triggering a raft of local engineering appointments and a new Rio de Janeiro office.
The region’s prolific pre-salt provinces have some of the most productive wells in the world. Typically, deepwater fields such as these, are produced through dynamic risers connected to floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) vessels.
Recently, conventional flexible flowline and risers have been reported to exhibit premature integrity issues due to corrosion, leading to regular replacement which is costly and leads to deferred production.
Strohm’s TCP Flowline and Riser is a disruptive new product that is corrosion-resistant with a three-decade design life. It has a superior fatigue performance and is light weight compared to steel resulting in a cost effective free-hanging catenary configuration once installed.
Strohm CEO Oliver Kassam, said: “This is a very significant and exciting moment as we join forces with Petrobras and Shell to qualify our TCP Flowline and Riser and see the prototypes installed in deepwater by 2024.”
“TCP has the potential to transform the global deepwater flowline and riser market and unlocks a huge potential for us in Brazil. The Brazilian pre-salt cluster currently has 20+ FPSOs in operation and each one is supporting numerous risers, providing a huge opportunity for us in the replacement market. In addition, the country also invests circa $1billion in risers to support new FPSO operations each year, and this is set to climb in line with its ambition to become the world’s fourth-largest oil producer by 2029. This JIP confirms that TCP is well positioned to be a game changer for the deepwater sector and for Strohm. We are on track to fulfill our vision of being the leading provider of non-corrosive solutions and supporting our strategy to provide products that deliver a significantly lower carbon footprint.”
Strohm has worked closely with Petrobras and Shell to understand their requirements for installation, subsea configuration as well as fluids, pressures, and design life requirements. The result is a TCP Riser technology that is insensitive to CO2 and H2S, can be installed with existing vessels with modest modifications, and support the free hanging catenary configuration, negating the need for buoyancy elements.
As part of the programme, engineering activities and pipe testing will be carried out in The Netherlands and Brazil, and full-scale prototypes will be manufactured and installed offshore Brazil.