ROME: Oil and gas services group Saipem is doubling down on technology and innovation, in order to combat the many uncertainties the industry faces. Saipem’s new center in Marghera opened on March 23: the goal is to unite Saipem’s underwater robotics unit Sonat Sonsea/Sonsub’s expertise with the know-how that Tecnomare Industriale (specialists in the development of underwater technologies) has to offer. Saipem CEO Stefano Cao reiterated the company’s commitment to these efforts by doubling its technology budget in 2017 from €30 million to €60 million. Cao remarked that the ability to offer innovative solutions to their oil and gas clients is a “sure bet,” in order to guarantee their competitive advantage in the market. Aside from the enormous investments already launched between 2012 and 2016 for the development of new technologies (€163 million, of which €73 million alone went into pure innovation), Saipem also earned 36 new patents just in 2016 alone (the most prolific year in the history of the company). Not to mention the 2,308 patents that they’d already registered, along with their 176 proprietary technologies—including refinement techniques, petrochemicals, and the work produced by the Snamprogetti company.
In order to expand the company’s know-how, Cao’announced two collaborative agreements. The first, with Siemens, is to create an open underwater control system for the Saipem Subsea Bus, which is already based on a Siemens interface. “The agreement,” said Cao, “is yet another step forward for Saipem, towards developing our own proprietary underwater treatment systems.” The other deal was signed with NTT DATA: the two companies will collaborate in order to create and implement prototypes and new solutions for Saipem’s ships and shipyards. This will help consolidate their working relationship: in 2016, they worked together on the “Digital Site” project in the shipyards in Arbatax, Sardinia.
The project experimented with the use of innovative devices that helped protect their workers’ health and safety. The Innovator ROV program, which was launched in 2000, will be used at the technological center in Marghera: this program will produce underwater robots (which are remotely controlled using “Springs” underwater technology) on an industrial scale. This is being developed together with Total and Veolia, who work directly on the seabed, using the Multipipe system to separate gases from liquids at the lowest depths, and Active Local Heating, a local heating system that ensures greater fluidity by increasing the temperature of fluids through tubes.
