Vallourec has secured a new order with Petrobras for the supply of SUBMAGNÉTICO FREE FLOW®, the company’s specialised oil country tubular goods solution designed to prevent inorganic scaling in production strings. The contract covers the production and installation of more than 30 units for deployment in Brazil’s offshore pre-salt fields.
Technology and Operational Benefits
SUBMAGNÉTICO FREE FLOW® represents a breakthrough technology that applies a magnetic field to extracted fluids, reducing the formation of inorganic scaling on production strings. This scaling phenomenon, caused by mineral precipitation from produced fluids, can significantly impair well productivity and require costly intervention operations to restore flow capacity.
The technology is expected to deliver substantial cost reductions for operators through multiple mechanisms. By minimising scale formation, the solution reduces the frequency of well-cleaning interventions, which typically require production shutdown and deployment of specialised equipment and personnel. Additionally, the magnetic treatment reduces consumption of chemical scale inhibitors, lowering operating expenses whilst minimising environmental impact associated with chemical usage. The combined effect of reduced interventions and chemical treatments translates to a significant reduction in production downtime, enhancing overall field economics.
Collaborative Development and Qualification
SUBMAGNÉTICO FREE FLOW® was co-developed through collaboration between Vallourec and Petrobras, combining the tubular manufacturer’s materials and engineering expertise with the operator’s field experience and application requirements. This partnership approach ensured the technology addressed practical operational challenges encountered in Brazil’s demanding pre-salt production environment.
The technology has successfully completed comprehensive qualification testing, demonstrating reliability under operational conditions. The qualification programme included vibration and shock tests simulating handling and installation stresses, pressure tests validating containment integrity, and API (American Petroleum Institute) and ISO (International Organization for Standardisation) connection tests confirming mechanical performance of threaded connections. This rigorous testing regime provides assurance of the technology’s fitness for demanding offshore applications.
Pre-Salt Application Context
Brazil’s pre-salt fields, located beneath thick salt layers in ultra-deepwater offshore locations, represent some of the world’s most prolific oil discoveries of recent decades. However, these reservoirs present significant technical challenges, including high pressures, elevated temperatures, corrosive fluids containing carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulphide, and pronounced scaling tendencies due to fluid chemistry and thermodynamic conditions.
Scale formation in pre-salt wells poses particular challenges due to the remoteness of offshore locations, water depths exceeding 2,000 metres in many cases, and the complexity of subsea well architecture. Interventions to remove scale require mobilisation of costly intervention vessels and equipment, with production losses extending throughout the intervention duration. Technologies that prevent or minimise scaling therefore deliver substantial value in these challenging operating environments.
Magnetic Scale Prevention Technology
Magnetic treatment for scale prevention operates by influencing the crystallisation behaviour of scale-forming minerals in produced fluids. When fluids pass through magnetic fields, the ions responsible for scale formation experience forces that alter their interaction patterns, promoting the formation of suspended particles rather than adherent scale deposits on tubular surfaces. This modification in crystallisation behaviour allows scale precursors to remain in suspension and be produced to surface facilities rather than depositing within production tubing.
The technology offers particular advantages in wells where chemical scale inhibition faces challenges such as inhibitor consumption by reservoir minerals, degradation at high temperatures, or compatibility issues with other production chemicals. Magnetic treatment provides continuous passive operation without requiring chemical injection systems or ongoing chemical supply logistics.
Project Scope and Implementation
The order for more than 30 units indicates deployment across multiple wells within Petrobras’s pre-salt portfolio, enabling systematic evaluation of technology performance across varied reservoir conditions and production profiles. This commercial-scale deployment follows successful qualification testing and likely includes pilot installations that demonstrated operational benefits.
Installation of SUBMAGNÉTICO FREE FLOW® units in offshore pre-salt wells requires integration with subsea completion designs and coordination with drilling and completion operations. Vallourec’s scope encompasses both manufacturing of the specialised tubular components and support for installation operations, ensuring proper deployment and operational readiness.
Strategic Significance
The order represents validation of Vallourec’s innovation strategy focused on developing high-value solutions that address specific operational challenges in demanding applications. By collaborating with operators to develop and qualify technologies for challenging environments, Vallourec differentiates its offering beyond commodity tubular products toward specialised solutions commanding premium positioning.
For Petrobras, adoption of magnetic scale prevention technology supports operational efficiency objectives and cost management in capital-intensive pre-salt developments. Reducing intervention requirements and production downtime directly enhances project economics whilst minimising operational risks associated with complex offshore interventions.
Market Implications
Successful deployment of SUBMAGNÉTICO FREE FLOW® in Brazilian pre-salt operations could establish a precedent for adoption in other scaling-prone environments globally. Many offshore and onshore fields worldwide experience scaling challenges that impair productivity and drive intervention costs. Demonstration of magnetic treatment effectiveness in demanding pre-salt conditions would provide compelling validation for technology application in diverse operating contexts.
The collaboration between Vallourec and Petrobras in developing and qualifying this technology exemplifies industry trends toward closer operator-supplier partnerships in advancing solutions for technical challenges. By sharing development costs and expertise, both parties accelerate innovation whilst ensuring resulting technologies meet practical operational requirements.
The order reinforces Vallourec’s position as a technology provider for demanding OCTG applications, particularly in Brazil’s strategically important pre-salt province, where the company maintains established relationships and a local manufacturing presence supporting the country’s offshore oil industry.
For more information visit www.vallourec.com
