Technip was awarded by Petrobras a major contract(1) for the supply of flexible pipes for the Iracema Sul (former Cernambi Sul) field, located in the Santos Basin pre-salt area, Brazil at a water depth of up to 2,500 meters.

The contract covers the qualification and supply of up to 250 kilometers of flexible pipes for oil production, gas lift, water and gas injection as well as related equipment for the pre-salt area to be installed on the floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) unit Cidade de Mangaratiba. The highly technological flexible pipes are designed to meet Petrobras' requested service life. Gas injection pipes are designed for high internal pressure, using the Teta profile(2) developed by Technip's R&D team in its Flexi France plant in Le Trait, France.

Technip's operating center in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil will perform the engineering and project management. The flexible pipes will mainly be fabricated at Technip's existing manufacturing plant in Vitória, with some specifications also being produced at the new manufacturing plant at Açu(3), Brazil. The first delivery is scheduled for the first half of 2014.

Frédéric Delormel, Technip's Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Subsea, stated: “Technip is honored to participate in such an important and challenging development for Petrobras and for Brazil. Thanks to the collaboration of our R&D teams notably in Brazil and France, we are at the forefront of frontier projects and this contract confirms the suitability of flexible pipes for high-pressure and corrosive fluids requirements found in ultra deepwater pre-salt conditions and also reinforces Technip's leading position in the buoyant Brazilian subsea market, where we have been present for more than 35 years.”

1) For Technip, a major “subsea” contract is above €500 million.

(2) Teta wire: wire with a specific, patented, T-shape used in flexible pipe to resist the radial effect of the internal pressure. Used for high pressure and harsh environments.

(3) The Açu plant is Technip's new flexible pipe manufacturing plant in Brazil, currently under construction. It is a high-end facility that will deliver a full range of advanced flexible pipe products. Together with our plant in Vitória, our logistics bases in Macaé and Angra and our operating center in Rio de Janeiro, it will help us expand Brazil's national content and our business capabilities to answer the pre-salt market requirements.