Viper Subsea V-LIFE orders double since Christmas

Viper Subsea’s innovative and award-winning V-LIFE Insulation Resistance Improvement System has enjoyed spectacular success during 2015, with the numbers of orders since Christmas 2014 set to double the installed base by the middle of 2015. The first North Sea installation is now reaching uninterrupted deployment of three years, delivering savings for the client of an estimated £10 million.

V-LIFE is a standalone device that acts as both a preventative measure and an active ‘healer’ to low electrical insulation resistance. By deploying an electro-kinetic and electrochemical process developed by Viper Subsea, the V-LIFE can minimise and mitigate the effect of water ingress into the electrical insulation and thereby extend the life of umbilicals, cables and connectors, while eliminating the need for subsea intervention for repair work and equipment replacement. V-LIFE has been adopted around the world, including in Australia and Vietnam.

“V-LIFE is a proven technology which although relatively new is already delivering substantial savings for clients,” explained Neil Douglas, Managing Director of Viper Subsea. “This technology has come at the right time as oil prices fall around the world and operators look to make their operations more efficient while extending the life of their fields”.

“A couple of our North Sea clients have avoided replacing an umbilical since they deployed V-LIFE. Such is the success of the product, a number of our clients are installing V-LIFE across multiple assets. 11 different operators now have V-LIFE units either deployed, or deployment is imminent. A number of other operators are showing strong interest in taking advantage of the considerable money-saving opportunity offered by the product.

“It is fair to say that the current push for operational economy dictated by the drop in oil prices has benefitted the Viper Subsea business. This can be seen not only in the success of V-LIFE, but also in the growth in the business that has required recruitment of new staff, especially electronic and electrical engineers to support the V-LIFE deployments.”

In February 2014 Viper Subsea received the prestigious Innovation & Technology Award for V-LIFE at the Subsea UK Business Awards, and in September were also top in the Innovation category at the National Private Business Awards.

Viper Subsea is a subsea engineering company that provides consultancy and manufactures engineering products in the UK which it sells to the oil and gas sector worldwide. The company has its headquarters in Portishead, close to Bristol and has an office in Aberdeen.

Edited from various sources by Joseph Green

Read the article online at: https://www.oilfieldtechnology.com/product-news/05052015/viper-subsea-vlife-christmas-907/