MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentine-Italian group invests in RD for the Brazilian oil industry

The Argentine-Italian group Tenaris announced it will begin the construction of its Research & Development Center in July 2011. The new facility will be located in the Rio Technology Park at Ilha do Fundão, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Tenaris will invest approximately USD 21 million in the construction of a new R&D Center to be opened by December 2012. Covering more than 43,000 square feet, the Center will be located nearby the Rio de Janeiro Federal University campus, the Petrobras R&D Center and other global oil and gas companies.

Luis Chad Tenaris R&D Center Project Manager in Brazil said that “A close relationship between companies and universities is strategic in order to boost the technological development of Brazil. The alliance of practical industrial knowledge and solid scientific investigation that takes place at universities will create an excellent synergy.”

The core of this new Tenaris R&D Center will be the development and qualification of TenarisHydril premium connections, the study of longitudinal and circumferential welding technologies and structural integrity of pipes and joints. The Center will also have laboratories for the development of metallic, polymeric and organic coatings.

From the new Center, Tenaris will continue joint research projects with Petrobras and the UFRJ, dedicated especially to OCTG and line pipe for challenging deepwater operations, while looking for opportunities to collaborate with other companies and institutions operating locally.

The Center will contain the equipment required for connections qualification, according to the needs of each customer. Furthermore, the R&D facility activities will also cover other segments, such as nuclear, mining and structural tubes for the construction market.

Tenaris is a leading supplier of tubes and related services for the world’s energy industry and certain other industrial applications.