Vallourec launched new welded stainless steel tubes to be fitted into umbilicals. Umbilicals are used to connect the equipment on the seabed to a control station at the surface, and are key components of a subsea installation. The tubes for umbilicals will be produced at the new Vallourec Umbilicals plant in Venarey-Les Laumes (Côte-d’Or, France). The plant is already working on a prototype order; actual industrial ramp-up is expected to take place in 2014. With TOTAL as the technical sponsor, this new product widens Vallourec’s offer of premium solutions for offshore operations.
Dominique Richardot, managing director of Vallourec’s Pipe Project and SURF (Subsea, Umbilicals, Risers, and Flowlines) activities, declared, “By offering a product with unique characteristics to the market, we are positioning ourselves to meet the growing demands of deepwater and ultra-deepwater offshore fields. This new premium activity reinforces Vallourec’s position on the subsea construction market and our ability to provide integrated solutions.” This new product completes the range of integrated solutions offered by Vallourec for subsea construction, which also includes line pipe, risers and welding services, and gives the Group access to a new, highly premium market.
