GE Oil and Gas develops new flexible pipe technology

GE Oil and Gas (GE) has introduced flexible pipes to help customers overcome the challenging conditions found in Brazil's Santos Basin by developing new materials for the pipes required to bring hydrocarbons to the surface.

The company says it has been working on the technology for the past three years in order to meet the specific conditions of the basin and claims it is now one of only two accredited providers of advanced flexible pipes to be used in this location.

Traditional flexible pipes must be able to handle extreme pressures, temperatures and currents but GE's new product builds upon those characteristics by adding new materials designed to withstand the more acidic environment in the basin.

GE's latest flexible pipes build on the company's 2011 acquisition of Wellstream, which enabled it to further grow in the floating production, storage and offloading offshore segment that underpins deepwater oil and gas production activities and around the world.

To drive additional innovation, GE is establishing a new $250 million (€181 million) Global Research Centre in Rio de Janeiro, which will host a subsea systems laboratory that will focus on developing more solutions for the pre-salt layer and ultra-deep water exploration.