Growing activity in the subsea well intervention market is fuelling increasing take-up of emergency breakaway technologies from UK-based connector specialist SECC Oil & Gas, as operators and service companies focus on improving production from rising numbers of maturing oil fields.
In the last twelve months, SECC has secured contracts from operators including BP, Talisman, Repsol, Chevron, Statoil, FMC and OneSubsea and has installed its technology throughout the world, including in Aberdeen, Houston, Norway, Singapore and West Africa.
The company’s emergency breakaways are pressure-balanced and self-sealing. They provide a dry disconnect at working pressure and therefore help operators address some of the industry’s most critical safety needs by protecting against the risk of fluid spill, loss of equipment and injury to personnel.
“This has been an extremely exciting year for us as we have seen our technology consistently deliver tangible benefits for customers,” says Dr Paul Armitage, Managing Director of SECC Oil & Gas.
In the intervention market, SECC’s connector technology is providing additional practical and economic benefits:
“Our connectors are being used as an enabling technology, providing reliable access for work to be carried out from standard support vessels,” explains Dr Armitage.
“This means operators don’t have to rely on more expensive and less accessible Light Well Intervention vessels for chemical treatments such as scale squeeze and acid injection. Not only is our technology enhancing oil recovery, but also helping to reduce downtime and cut deferred revenues.
“Activity in this area continues to gather pace as operators look for more efficient ways to maintain and improve production from increasing numbers of maturing oil fields.”
The company has also boosted its in-house expertise with the appointments of Mark Henderson as Global Business Development Manager and Richard Wakefield as Engineering Manager. Henderson, who joined the business in March 2014, has been appointed to help increase SECC’s share of the international subsea connector market. Wakefield joins from One Subsea where he was Senior Engineer. His role at SECC will focus on improving the technical, environmental and cost performance of existing products and bringing new innovations to market.
“Mark and Richard bring a wealth of knowledge and experience that significantly bolsters our capabilities and is helping us to refine our offering, improve our technology and explore new markets,” said Dr Armitage.
The technology-driven company, which was founded in Cheshire in 2008, has so far brought three patented emergency breakaways to market and is now developing more connectors to add to its portfolio as part of its growth strategy.
“Through our commitment to innovation and intensive product development, we have carved out a coveted spot at the forefront of the connector and emergency disconnect market,” explains SECC’s Global Business Development Manager, Mark Henderson.
“We are now working with some of the oil and gas industry’s biggest names to deliver some of the most intelligent and relevant enabling technology the market has to offer.
“Through our strategy of increased market penetration and breakthrough innovation, we believe we can sustain our considerable growth in the coming years.”
For more information on Secc’s range of connectors, click here
