The global demand for extraction of hydrocarbons from more demanding waters means contractors and operators face even more challenging issues. Though we all hope that renewable energy and alternative fuels will have a big impact on lowering our use of fossil fuels, hydrocarbons remain and will continue to be a key source of energy into the foreseeable future. At the moment, more than 90 per cent of the world's energy comes from non-renewable sources, with 60 per cent of our needs fulfilled by either oil or natural gas. According to the US Department of Energy, total world consumption of marketed energy is projected in 2030 to have increased by 44 per cent over 2006 levels. Demand for oil is currently around 85 million barrels per day. With growth stimulated by emerging economies, the International Energy Agency forecasts demand to reach 105 million barrels per day in 2030. As mature fields reach exhaustion, this is inevitably driving exploration and extraction to more difficult and challenging areas, such as ever deeper water offshore. Trelleborg solutions focus on improving exploration and extraction efficiency, and even more importantly, on making these activities safer.

In the oil and gas industry, the group's products are used to seal, damp and protect in some of the harshest environments, including subsea. Here Trelleborg solutions successfully operate while constantly exposed to sea water, subject to strong tidal flows and under immense pressures.

Bend Protection: Elastomeric bend stiffeners, or Linksyn, prevent fatigue damage to power and control umbilicals. Linksyn combines bend protection and buoyancy to keep the umbilical vertical and away from potential entanglement with the ROV during operation.

Syntactic Foam Buoyancy Modules: Numerous Trelleborg products are found on a Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) including buoyancy for the main vehicle and tooling packs, umbilical bend protection and seals for thrusters, pumps manipulator arms and tools.

Flow Line Upheaval Mitigation Buoyancy: A buoyancy and clamping system, permanently attached to flow lines, helps control negative effects of pipe expansion during operation. Bend Stiffeners Risers and umbilicals in dynamic locations are protected by bend stiffeners where wave and current-induced motions would cause premature failure.

Composite Bearings: Maintenance-free Orkot bearings are used in stern tube, rudder and hatch slide pad applications, as well as on deck machinery.

Riser Tower Buoyancy: Supplied at specific locations or along the full length of the riser, buoyancy accommodates both hydrostatic and uniaxial compression loads, temperature profile and all requirements from installation to decommissioning.

VIV Suppression: Vortex Induced Vibration (VIV) suppression systems reduce damaging vibration to risers caused by underwater currents.

Midwater Arch: Providing riser and umbilical management and support, midwater arches comprise buoyant arch structure, seabed anchor and mooring system.

Subsea Structures: Numerous seals, insulation, bend and impact protection solutions are provided for dog houses, flow lines, jumpers, well heads, manifolds and spools.

Buoyancy and Cable Protection; Trelleborg provides cable handling and protection products along with extensive buoyancy solutions for drilling, flow lines, risers and subsea equipment, all supplied from multiple worldwide locations.

Sealing and Bearing Solutions: A leading developer and manufacturer of offshore sealing solutions, Trelleborg provides the optimum seals and bearings for most applications. Its specialised materials give proven performance on anything from downhole drilling motors to oil platform tensioner systems, subsea valves to refinery separation equipment.

Oil & Marine Hoses: Trelleborg is a main supplier of large-bore hoses for handling crude oil, liquefied gas and other chemicals on offshore oil terminals. Trelleborg also offers Trelline, a full range of hoses for oil offloading lines, jumpers, risers and flowlines, as well as oil-filled hoses for deepwater cable protection.

(For further information contact news@trelle borg.com.Article courtesy: Minett Media, UK. Email: info@minettmedia.co.uk)