To explore better ways we can do business in Nigeria, National Oilwell Varco (NOV Fibre Glass Systems (NOV FGS)’s Vice President for Sales, Bill Murphy and the West Africa Sales Manager, Paulinus Nsek, visited BOG in November 2018. The visit was also to explore new ways we can do business in Nigeria’s Oil and Gas industry and how NOV FGS can assist us in being more competitive and market-ready for projects in the Composite Pipe Systems (CPS) space.
NOV FGS is BOG’s technical partner in the space of composite pipe systems and structures, with headquarters in Houston, Texas, United States of America. NOV is the world’s leading manufacturer/marketer of composite pipe products used primarily for corrosion control in a variety of low to high pressure/temperature applications in Oil & Gas and other sectors.
Composite pipes are pipes made from fiberglass and resin which have the key benefit of not being prone to corrosion because they have no metal component. These pipe products cover a wide range of services which include (but not limited to): oil & gas transmission (flow lines), downhole tubing/casing applications, water injection, piping for firewater, cooling water, process water, waste water, chemical processing and corrosive fluid transmission.
The benefits of using our composite products are numerous. These include significant savings in project costs with reduction in steel components, maintenance requirements, reduction in weights for Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) platforms and generally aligning with the current trend of best global practices.
While in Lagos, we had joint client meetings with key clients like Mobil Producing Nigeria (MPN), the Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCo) and DeltaAfrik Engineering. The visits were very productive, as they afforded the clients the opportunity to engage the NOV representative.
In Port Harcourt, Bill met with members of BOG’s Composite Pipe Systems and Business Development. He had a walk through the BOG Spooling Yard and was satisfied with the technical capacity BOG has.
During this visit, we were able to speak to a wide audience covering maintenance, engineering, and projects on the importance of Glassfibre Reinforced Epoxy (GRE) over carbon steel in the space of pipes, phenolic handrails and gratings on their FPSOs.
Most clients were concerned about the cost of procuring and installing GRE, but we were able to convince them that the cost of having GRE on their FPSOs is cheaper in the long run. Many of the clients have keyed into the advantages that glassfibre would bring to their facilities.
The clients we visited were also concerned about using the phenolic handrails and gratings on their FPSOs.
Some benefits of penolic handrails and gratings are: ease of installation, corrosion resistance, ability to withstand fire in the case of an outbreak, structural integrity, maintenance is done visually, and relative light weight.
The visit has further strengthened the BOG-NOV FGS relationship in the CPS space.
NOV’s Vice President for Sales, Bill Murphy (5th from right); West Africa Sales Manager, Paulinus Nsek (4th from right) and BOG representatives during the recent visit.
Above and below: NOV’s Vice President for Sales, Bill Murphy and West Africa Sales Manager, Paulinus Nsek, with BOG representatives during the recent visit to our Port Harcourt facility.