Sandvik to Supply Steel Umbilical Tubes for Brazil’s Mero Field

Sandvik has received the first large scale stainless steel umbilical tube order in Brazil pre-salt Mero oil field.

The order consists of over 500 kilometers of Sandvik’s super duplex Sandvik SAF 2507 stainless steel umbilical tubes encapsulated by Prysmian Group.

Sandvik SAF 2507 is an austenitic-ferritic stainless steel that performs well in highly corrosive conditions. It offers excellent resistance to stress corrosion cracking, pitting and crevice corrosion, erosion corrosion and corrosion fatigue, the company explained.

“There are several advantages to using steel tubing over plastics, but the main one is reliability in challenging conditions. At Sandvik, we have been observing market trends in Brazil closely for the past 20 years and are well placed to support the transition from thermoplastic to more robust steel,” said Alan Souza, sales manager, Sandvik.

“We’re excited to be one of the pioneers working on such a high-profile project in the region and to support the growing recognition of the benefits of steel over plastics for umbilicals offshore Brazil,” concluded Souza.

Mero is an expansive pre-salt oil field in the Santos Basin offshore Rio de Janeiro. The Mero oil field is being managed by the Libra Consortium, made up of a partnership between Petrobras, Total, Shell Brasil, CNPC and CNOOC.

The first phase of the project, Mero 1, is an ultra-deepwater project consisting of 17 wells in a water depth of approximately 2,000 meters.