Veolia signs long-term contract to supply water treatment chemicals to TOTAL in Angola

JOHANNESBURG -- Veolia Water Oil and Gas Angola Lda has been contracted by TOTAL and Sonangol to supply Veolia’s range of Hydrex chemicals for its FPSO fleet operating off the coast of Angola. Veolia Water Technologies South Africa will manufacture and deliver 160 tons of chemicals every six weeks for the next three years to keep the company’s Sulphate Removal seawater treatment units running at optimum capacity.

This chemical supply will augment the V-Care Service support contract Veolia Water Oil & Gas Angola Lda already has with TOTAL E&P Angola. “V-Care Solutions is our commitment to the oil and gas industry,” says Hein van Niekerk, General Manager, Hydrex & Consumables, Veolia Water Technologies South Africa. “Through this programme, we are able to offer onshore and offshore services as well as engineering, maintenance and training contracts.”

Veolia will supply five primary chemicals to maintain membrane functionality of the seawater Reverse Osmosis units and ensure that the treated seawater used in the oil extraction process meets not only TOTAL’s stringent quality standards, but conforms to global standards enforced throughout the industry. Shipped as 10 containers “FCL” every month, the 160 ton order comprises Antiscalants, two CIP Cleaners, Oxidising Biocides and Dechlorination chemicals all from Veolia’s renowned Hydrex range.

“Over 75% of these chemicals are produced locally in Isando,” adds van Niekerk. “What this means for TOTAL is that by eliminating high import costs, we are able to offer the chemical order at a fixed rate for the duration of the contract – a key factor for the client. Producing this quantity of chemicals is well within our capabilities, and to assist us with storage and container loading we outsourced to local specialist freight forwarders Intraspeed and Hellmann.”

Veolia, using Intraspeed and Hellmann and its global logistics partners, will ship the chemicals to Sonils base in Luanda every four to six weeks. “Typically chemicals are shipped every four to six months to these operations, but owing to our local production we are able to guarantee the short shelf-life of these products with our monthly orders,” adds van Niekerk.

In addition, Veolia’s test rig, supplied by Veolia South Africa in 2014 to validate the effectiveness of its cleaning chemicals, will serve as an onshore membrane cleaning and training facility in Angola. “With the growing market in Angola, Veolia continues to invest heavily in the country to cater for our complete water treatment portfolio,” concludes van Niekerk.

Veolia shipped its first order of the three-year contract in December 2015, followed by two more in February and March 2016.