The Mero and Buzios oilfields in the pre-salt Santos Basin are two of the most high-profile and challenging ultra-deepwater projects offshore Brazil and super-duplex stainless steel umbilical tubes were selected for both prestigious projects. Buzios is believed to contain over 11.3 billion barrels of oil equivalent (BOE), while Mero is estimated to hold up to 3.3 billion BOE. With water depths of around 2,000m for both fields, underwater products have to be robust enough to withstand some of the subsea world’s most extreme conditions.
So, when it came to selecting umbilical tubing for the two fields, SAF 2507® high-alloy super duplex stainless steel from Sandvik Materials Technology was a stand-out choice.
A super-duplex stainless steel, SAF 2507® has a high PRE (pitting resistance equivalent) value of at least 42.5 for tube and pipe. It has very good chloride corrosion resistance, combined with very high mechanical strength and fatigue resistance.
The material is being used for umbilical tubing on the first and second phases of the four-phase Mero field. It is also being used for umbilical tubes on the fifth phase of the giant, 12-phase Buzios field.
