Expro Secures Teekay Flow Meter Order
International oilfield service company Expro has secured a USD 500,000 contract to provide its PassiveSONAR clamp-on flow meters to enhance shuttle tanker loading and offloading operations in the North Sea. The contract with Expro Meters, secured from Teekay, in co-operation with StatoilHydro, is in line with regulatory recommendations to improve loading operations. Expro’s PassiveSONAR meters will be used to measure the instantaneous flow rate and provide early warning of any potential loss of containment between the host facility and the shuttle tanker. The PassiveSONAR meters are positioned immediately inboard the bow of the vessel and data is relayed back to the bridge to provide real time monitoring and control of the loading operations.Tony Walker, general manager of Expro Meters, said: “We are very pleased to be given the opportunity to provide a solution to Teekay on this important project. While applying PassiveSONAR meters on tanker loading and offloading is not a core application for our new technology, it does demonstrate our ability to be flexible to the needs of our customers over a range of applications in the oil and gas industry. This project is an innovative use of PassiveSONAR in an environmentally-sensitive situation and once again reinforces Expro’s credentials as solution providers.” Ingvild Sæther, Vice President of Shuttle Tankers at Teekay said: “The installation of the Expro PassiveSONAR flow meters on our shuttle tankers is another important step in our efforts to continuously improve the safety of our offshore loading operations. We have worked closely with StatoilHydro on this initiative and we are pleased with the solution offered by Expro Meters.”
Given the harsh North Sea conditions, the nature of tanker operations and the large pipe diameters involved – with sizes ranging from 20″ through to 32″ – the robust, non-intrusive clamp-on flow meters were selected as the most suitable option, avoiding any modification of the piping onboard each vessel. Working with Teekay, Expro Meters installed the meters during routine tanker offloading operations at various receiving terminals, avoiding any unnecessary or costly delay in the shuttle tanker schedules.