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Supply agreement with FMC Technologies

"We are pleased to announce the signing of a supply agreement with FMC Technologies Inc. (NYSE:FTI) in Houston, Texas for Cormon's PTEC range of subsea sensors. Typically deployed on subsea wellhead and manifold piping, the equipment plays a significant role in the flow assurance programme for subsea production units, helping to reduce operating costs and extend equipment life.

Cormon extends RPCM™ capability

Ring pair corrosion monitor developed for deepwater, high pressure and high temperature applications.
Click here to view technical bulletin.

ChevronTexaco selects Cormon for Captain C subsea sensors.

Cormon has been awarded a contract to supply subsea corrosion sensors for the third development phase of the Captain Field. This phase will develop the eastern part of the field through two subsea satellite production wells tied in to a subsea manifold. First oil from Captain C is expected in the second quarter of 2006.

Cormon News - Spring 2005

High profile for Houston office

We are raising the profile of the Cormon office in Houston with the appointment of Magne Ostby as President of Cormon Inc. Magne has in depth experience of the industry backed up by a successful track record.

He summarises his vision for the new appointment:
"If you want to be in the oil business you must have a presence in Houston: the nerve-center for world oil & gas. My aim is to develop a positive business climate through responsive communication, on-time deliveries, and products and services that meet or exceed promised performance."

Welcoming Magne to Cormon, Mervyn Peatfield, Cormon Sales Director, said:
"For subsea and deepwater developments flow assurance has emerged as a hot issue. The huge capital investments bring an increased focus on flow assurance and management of risk. Cormon subsea products are already well established in the North Sea, West Africa and Australasia, allowing us to give full attention to the US market. Our aim is to bring competition to the subsea monitoring market for Sand Erosion, Corrosion, Pressure & Temperature with quality products and a quality US organisation."

Cormon Inc is located at
10375 Richmond Ave., Suite 1300,
Houston, Texas
Tel: 713 501 4833
sales@cormon.com

New Data Sheet

Pressure, temperature, erosion & corrosion (PTEC) probes

A new issue of product data sheet CMEP024 details Cormon subsea intrusive sensors for deepwater HP/HT applications. The product range now offers any combination of four measurements: Pressure, Temperature, Erosion and Corrosion, hence the product identity of PTEC.

To achieve the best possible reliability and integrity of construction for subsea applications Cormon never uses epoxy resins or glass sealing to mount sensor assemblies. Rigorous qualification testing for pressure, temperature, shock and vibration, as well as design validation using tools like FEA and MTBF calculations, ensure that a fully robust product, fit for extended service, is delivered to each project.

Cormon Master Control Hub communications and protocol technology has made it possible to routinely interface PTEC probes with the subsea control modules of major subsea system suppliers. Data is processed at the sensor and output is in engineering units requiring no post processing or additional software.

The sensors provide at least an order of magnitude improvement against competing models for instantaneous resolution and speed of response. The exceptional resolution results from using CEION® technology.

The service pressure and temperature range is extendable as required, in line with demand. Units have been designed for service at 3050 m (10000 ft) depth and 15000 kpsi design pressure at 180°C (356°F). For demanding start-up conditions the design has been qualified for -70°C (-94°F).

Major subsea projects like Kristin and Snøvhit (Statoil), Penguins & Howe (Shell) have been delivered to contractors on time and on budget. This track record has led to a recent award by FMC Kongsberg for the BP Angola Block 18 Plutonio project and an unprecedented level of interest in PTEC designs for other projects world wide.

Technology Testing

Evaluation and application of CEION® sand management equipment by Tulsa University sand management JIP

The Tulsa University Sand Management JIP is supported by Oil & Gas Operating companies including: BP, ChevronTexaco, ConocoPhillips, Saudi Aramco, Shell, Total and Petrobras. Cormon is actively contributing as an affiliate member.

The JIP has been evaluating commercially available sand probes for their effectiveness in terms of sensitivity, repeatability and reliability. In addition, a CEION® system is employed to assess the effects of velocity, flow regime and sand concentration on erosion rate to validate and develop models for predicting sand rates.

Experiments are conducted in a 1" test loop. The flush probe, with an Inconel 625 sensing element, is mounted in a section plug T configuration and tied into a CEION® field instrument which outputs sand erosion and temperature in engineering units. A range of gas velocities, fluid velocities, sand loadings and flow regimes are circulated in the flow loop, and the resultant sand erosion detected by the CEION® equipment. The gas and liquid phases are circulated around the loop and a liquid/sand mix prepared in a slurry tank is then injected.

Typical test results:
A typical test is presented in the figure, representing a test run with gas velocity of 100ft/s and liquid velocity of 0.4 ft/s including 0.5 wt % sand. The metal loss (displayed in red), is presented in nanometers, the temperature (displayed in blue) is presented in degrees centigrade. With the injection of the sand/liquid mix there is an immediate signal response with erosion resolution measured down to 5 nm. The estimated metal loss rate for the erosion period of ~20 minutes is 178 mpy. The high sensitivity of the equipment permits gathering of useful data even with very short test runs.

Typical test data for gas velocity of 100ft/s, liquid velocity of 0.4 ft/s with 0.5 wt % Sand. Note: 500nm = 0.02 mils.

Findings

• The test program has established that the system has good reliability & repeatability
• Resolution of 5nm (0.0002 mils) or 0.00025% of wall thickness has been demonstrated
• The system is able to relate a range of gas velocities, fluid velocities, sand loadings and flow regimes to erosion
• The work has been employed to refine models to determine sand rates causing erosion
• Thierry Chevrot, representing TOTAL Exploration & Production on the JIP, summed up the programme as follows:
  "To have the opportunity to assess the performance of sand monitoring equipment in general and more particularly intrusive sand monitoring probe systems is of major interest to end users. It gives confidence that the technology is able to meet the growing needs of our operations with respect to sand monitoring and will be able to contribute to the integrity of our producing facilities in the future."

Footnote: client field trials running in parallel with this work have established a limit of detection, including fines to 30 microns, of 0.001lb/MMscfd. These levels represent a significantly better performance than was obtained using acoustic techniques.

Company News
Cormon Group Structure

Over the past 2 years Cormon has been evolving its structure to better match its organisation to customer needs. This evolution has been a response to several market factors including the increased complexity of technology and systems, a growing customer demand for supplier expertise in our discipline and a significant requirement for field based service activities. The result is three groups whose titles and activities are:

1) Flow Assurance and Optimisation (FAO) provides high level engineering solutions and expertise for a wide range of Flow Assurance applications with particular emphasis on subsea production and optimising asset performance. Working in close co-operation with clients from development concept to end-of-life, FAO specialists advise, specify, design, implement, commission and manage solution level packages and projects. The Group also performs targeted technology development work and collaborates with academic institutions to meet the future needs of clients.

2) Products Group provides a monitoring equipment service for projects and routine operations that may range from a single weight loss coupon to an integrated, multi-point system. The extensive product range includes CEION® metal loss measurement equipment, pressure access systems, sensors, electronics, and software. The group maintains a design capability to provide a customised equipment service for products like chemical injection, sensors and panels. The Products Group also integrates best-in-class solutions from other suppliers into its packages and provides manufacturing support to FAO.

3) Field Services Group provides mainly on-site services at all levels, including routine maintenance, commissioning, chemical inhibitor optimisation programmes and data management. The team of offshore certified technicians, facility managers and specialists covers the world through its operating base in Aberdeen, Scotland and regional offices. The services are backed up by laboratory facilities in Aberdeen where a range of testing can be carried out in support of field work. The Group also provides a spares supply and installation service as well as operational support for Cormon products and packages.

While each group is free to develop an operating culture that is closely matched to its client base, a high degree of inter-group co-operation and association is maintained inside the company. This ensures that every client has access to all of Cormon's skills and capabilities through a portal that is tuned to his or her business needs.

Product Development

RPCM™ Flow Assurance Spool - for management of pipelines and flowlines

Cormon's in-line monitoring tool for pipelines and flowlines provides users with the ideal solution for real-time management of their assets. Conceived originally as a simple CEION® based corrosion monitor, the product's capabilities have since evolved into a sophisticated flow assurance tool. For example, recent builds incorporate proprietary ring-pair configurations that permit discrimination between localised and general corrosion attacks.

The growing number of Deepwater and HP/HT applications is driving Cormon's development of a spool package that is capable of operating in these demanding conditions. Further developments have taken place in the area of electronics and communications. The resolution of the latest design has increased and dual redundancy options have been introduced together with an ever more capable interface hub, making the overall package as flexible as possible. A technology proving unit was recently delivered to BP Wytch Farm.

Product users include Conoco Phillips, Shell, Statoil, Apache and Woodside Petroleum.