A Research & Development Leader on the Oil & Gas Frontier

Through our companies, Vetco Gray and Vetco Aibel, we provide subsea drilling and production systems; surface drilling and completion systems; process and facilities; maintenance, modification and operations; and complete aftermarket services.

Vetco has been providing innovative products, services and inventions to the oil and gas industry for 100 years. Throughout the company’s long history, we have introduced an impressive list of industry “firsts” with such innovations as:

• rotary swivels
• metal-to-metal sealing technology
• designs for safer surface completion systems
• development of marine riser systems
• deepwater drilling and production wellhead technology
• high pressure, high temperature horizontal subsea trees
• complete subsea production systems
• state-of-the-art control systems
• valves and actuators
• extreme service high pressure, high temperature production systems for both subsea and platform applications.

We are continually developing new technologies and products through our research and product development programs in the US and Europe. Recent projects include:

• next generation high pressure
• high temperature subsea trees for development of deepwater fields and hostile reservoir environments
• drilling and production wellheads for safer operations and reduced rig downtime
• long offset production control systems for remote field and subsea-to beach developments
• subsea and platform multi-phase wellstream processing
• complete solutions for production, processing, control, and flow assurance using compact and lightweight components

Our vision is to reduce time to first oil and improve the economics of deepwater field developments.

This legacy for innovation and our reputation for listening to our customers and responding with solutions that provide real value uniquely positions Vetco to again expand the frontiers of exploration and production, well into the future.

Vetco's current program targets four inter-related areas

• deepwater systems for subsea field development and floating platforms;
• high-pressure and high-temperature (HP/HT) systems;
• subsea processing and power;
• long-distance tiebacks.

Deepwater Systems for Subsea Field Development & Floating Platforms

In 2004, Vetco helped drill the first well in water depths greater than 10,000 ft (3,050 m). Drilling in ultra-deepwater means longer casing strings, longer drilling riser strings and higher mechanical loads. Reservoirs will be deeper, hotter and higher pressured. These combined factors result in structural loads that exceed the capacities of today's systems for rigs and subsea wellheads. The development of subsea systems to handle higher pressures, temperatures and structural loads is one of the challenges Vetco is meeting with the MS-700 XHPHT system.

HP/HT Technology

HP/HT development is becoming more common as operators drill to greater depths. After 70 years of incorporating metal seals into standard products, it is not surprising that Vetco has more than 50 years experience with 15,000 psi completions, more than 30 years experience with 20,000 psi and 30,000 psi completions and more than 25 years experience with combined high pressures of 20,000 psi and temperatures of 400°F (204"C).

Vetco is addressing all inter-related technology issues common to HP/HT. These include systems for FPP applications, subsea trees, subsea wellheads and BOP connectors, subsea production systems, HIPPS arid surface systems.

Another R&D focus is extended qualifications of 20,000 psi and 30,000 psi equipment to higher temperatures in accordance with API 6A, Annex F, PR-2. The next generation of surface 20,000 psi equipment will be tested to 450°F (232°C), followed by the 30,000 psi equipment.

"This round of qualification testing is allowing Vetco to develop new metals, non-metallics, coatings, hard facings and design concepts. This is generating new products covered by many new patents. We have also made some key breakthroughs in torque reduction for these HP/HT products," said Anton Dach, Director of Product Development for Surface Completion Systems.

Subsea Processing & Power

In deepwater, ultra-deepwater or arctic conditions, transporting associated gas or separated water to shore adds to project costs that may not be recoverable. With the advent of smart well technology, downhole separation and subsea processing, water production can be injected into nonproductive intervals, eliminating the need to process the water at the platform topsides or piping it onshore. Similarly, gas can be separated from the oil at the seabed, reducing the weight requirements for the topsides or eliminating the surface facilities altogether. Vetco is conducting research and engineering on subsea processing technologies, including Gas-to-Liquid Separation, Three-phase Separation, and Liquid-Liquid Separation.

Vetco has also developed the Vessel Internal Electrostatic Coalescer (VIEC), a wellstream processing system using electrostatic coalescence for fluids separation. The VIEC system reduces water content in oil to between 2% and 5%, a significant improvement over current separation techniques. Another electrostatic coalescer system (LOWWAC) is used to reduce the water content to less than 0.5%, which is export quality.

Long Distance Tiebacks

Another key element in the move to deeper water and harsher environments is the increasing distance between well locations and production facilities. With fields in arctic waters requiring tieback distances between 300 miles and 400 miles (500 km and 650 km), Vetco is focusing R&D efforts on the necessary power and communication technologies to enable viable field development solutions.

Enabling technologies for long tiebacks of subsea wells to a central production facility are solutions for flow assurance of the produced fluids, and power and communications over long distances without the use of mid-line repeaters.

Tieback distances have increased in the last decade from developments such as the Poseidon project, tied back to the Gulf of Cadiz over a distance of 34 miles (54 km) and the Corrib field in Northern Ireland at 56 miles (90 km). The industry benchmark is the Snohvit development, on the Norwegian Continental Shelf, where Vetco has provided power and control systems with design specifications for 136 mile (220 km) offset distances.

Vetco (www.vetco.com) employs approximately 10,000 dedicated professionals worldwide and provides guiding principles to conduct its business lawfully, ethically and in a socially responsible manner while maintaining exemplary performance in the areas of health, safety, environment and quality (HSEQ).