Viper Subsea, the Bristol based supplier of subsea systems and products to the global oil and gas industries is making progress in exporting its range of services and products to the global marketplace, with recent success in the increasingly important Brazilian offshore fields.
The company’s V-LOCK® hydraulic stab plate has been specified for use on one of the Petrobras presalt oilfields located in the Santos basin off the coast of Rio de Janeiro. The Santos presalt fields contain an estimated 50-100 billion barrels of oil and natural gas equivalent and represents one of the world’s major areas for future exploration and extraction. First oil is expected to be extracted in 2013.
“The importance of the Brazilian oilfields cannot be underestimated.” explains Neil Douglas, Managing Director at Viper Subsea . “Both from a global production perspective as well as from a technological perspective, Brazil represents a significant part of the future fields that are in deep water, and the technology to support subsea operations needs to be reliable as well as easy to install.
“Our V-LOCK® hydraulic stab plate, which underwent two years of development and extensive qualification testing, delivers considerable advantages over existing systems, both in terms of performance and installation. As the flagship product developed by Viper Subsea, V-LOCK® has been designed to meet the demands of the subsea industry for the foreseeable future.”
Viper Subsea’s international growth also sees the company supplying umbilical termination units for use on a subsea field in Australia, as well as subsea distribution equipment for use in Vietnam.
But perhaps most importantly, the company has recently signed global framework agreements with two of the five ‘supermajor’ oil and gas companies to deliver a range of engineering consultancy services for subsea control systems.
“Viper Subsea is rapidly establishing itself on the global stage.” continues Neil Douglas. “ As a UK based company we represent the proud tradition of excellence in product development and expertise which this country is known for. Exports are vital to the economy and we will continue to forge ahead on the global stage.”
[mappress] Offshore Energy Today Staff, February 15, 2012; Image: Viper Subsea