International welding company Serimax, a subsidiary of the Vallourec Group, has been awarded a three year frame agreement by Technip’s UK operating centre to provide a comprehensive service package at Technip’s Evanton spoolbase, in Scotland. The scope of work contains the Specialist Welding Services, Pipe Management, Pipe Handling, welding equipment, Pipe Inspection, Field Joint Coating, Hydro Testing and general Fabrication services carried out by Serimax. The recently signed agreement also allows for a further two year extension of work.

Located on the Cromarty Firth, the spoolbase is one of five operated globally by Technip and is used for the fabrication and spooling of rigid pipe onto vessels with reel-lay capabilities.

Serimax will deploy its automatic welding equipment which has been developed in-house at the company’s research and development department in Mitry Mory, France, on a number of projects at the spoolbase. Continued investment in welding equipment is creating more efficient processes, which generates significant time savings. An example of this efficiency was seen in a recent project undertaken for Technip at the spoolbase which returned 0 failures from 4500 welds completed.

Les Dickson, regional manager for Serimax Northern Europe, said the company’s continued investment in equipment and welding processes R&D had played an important part in winning the contract. “This agreement gives a strong indication of Serimax’s commitment to offer a service that is second to none in this industry.”

Dave Miller, General Manager, Technip’s Evanton Spoolbase added: “We are delighted to continue our long standing relationship with Serimax and this contract is testimony to our confidence in the market. The North Sea is still an exciting place to be with larger, more complex projects being developed and we look forward to working with Serimax to ‘take it further’.”

Production output is forecast to increase over the next number of years and 26 new Serimax positions have already been created at the Evanton spoolbase with further posts expected to be filled as full production is reached.
Serimax has been supporting Technip at the Evanton Spoolbase for more than 15 years.

ABOUT SERIMAX AND VALLOUREC

Serimax is a fully owned subsidiary of Vallourec. They are an international full service welding company which plans, designs, manages and delivers fully integrated welding solutions on land and at sea, in the most challenging environments and most extreme conditions.
www.serimax.com

Vallourec is a world leader in premium tubular solutions primarily serving the energy markets, as well as other industrial applications. In 2011, Vallourec sales amounted to €5.3 billion.
With over 22,000 employees, integrated manufacturing facilities, advanced R&D, and presence in more than 20 countries, Vallourec offers its customers innovative global solutions to meet the growing energy challenges of the 21st century.
Listed on NYSE Euronext in Paris (ISIN code: FR0000120354, Ticker VK) and eligible for the Deferred Settlement System, Vallourec is included in the following indices: MSCI World Index, Euronext 100 and CAC 40.
In the United States, Vallourec has a sponsored Level 1 American Depository Receipt (ADR) program (ISIN code: US92023R2094, Ticker: VLOWY). The ratio of Vallourec ADR to ordinary shares is 5:1).
www.vallourec.com