Subsea 7 Engineering and Construction Company Plans to Build a New Pipe Fabrication ‘Spoolbase’ in Port Isabel, Texas

Subsea 7 Engineering and Construction Company plans to build a new pipe fabrication ‘spoolbase’ in Port Isabel, Texas. Port Isabel was selected for a deepwater port in southeast Texas, close to the Mexican border to build a pipe assembly plant on a 58-acre site at the Port Isabel–San Benito Navigation District’s turning basin.

Subsea 7 signed a 25-year lease with the Port Isabel Logistical Offshore Terminal, a business aimed at attracting industry suppliers to the area.

The $32 million plant will help attract offshore oil and gas industry suppliers to the area, and it is expected to create about 100 welding and heavy equipment operation jobs.

The spoolbase will deliver the company's North and Central America region requirements for pipe fabrication, supporting Subsea 7's construction vessels. The facility will produce pipe stalks of up to 16 inches (40 cm) in diameter and 1.2 kilometers (0.7 miles) in length for spooling onto reeled pipelay vessels.

The new base will also be able to weld steel material for the onshore fabrication of offshore oil and gas pipelines and complete the manufacture of double joints, plastic lined pipelines, pipe-in-pipe and steel catenary risers.

Bill Boyle, vice president for the Subsea 7's North and Central America region said the spoolbase was a "key milestone" in the company's objective to expand its business in the U.S., Mexican and Gulf of Mexico markets. The company will begin shipping in mid 2009.

These new jobs and the new suppliers the plant will attract should provide a healthy economic boost for the area and increase demand for housing. This new demand should increase the value of property values.

Subsea 7 is one of the world's leading subsea engineering and construction companies. Subsea 7 is the result of mergers between DSND, Halliburton Subsea, Subsea Offshore and Rockwater. The company has five main divisions:

1. Subsea field development
2. ROV support to Drill Rig Operations
3. Inspection, Repair and Maintenance;
4. Survey and Positioning
5. Development and Application of Subsea Technology

Subsea 7 carries out its Subsea field development business in all the major offshore oil & gas markets globally.

• Operations are supported out of the North Sea, Africa, Brazil, Gulf of Mexico and Asia Pacific
• They install infield rigid and flexible pipelines up to 16" diameter, riser systems and umbilicals connecting production facilities on the seabed to fixed or floating platforms. They provide a full range of complementary design, fabrication and installation services for related subsea hardware in order to offer a total subsea field development package. They service deep and emerging deepwater projects with a modern fleet of pipelay, construction, survey and multi-purpose support vessels.

Onshore, our global operations include an extensive infrastructure of pipeline spoolbases and fabrication yards. The newest spoolbase is currently being developed at Port Isabel in the Gulf of Mexico. These strategically-positioned assets, in conjunction with a network of local partners, are central to their objective of developing strong and sustainable regional businesses.