Clariant Oil Services' Technology Center in Brazil will increase R&D for the oil and gas industry in Latin America

HOUSTON, June 5, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The Technology Center set up by Clariant Oil Services, a global leader in the provision of customized specialty chemicals and related services for the oil and gas industry worldwide, will reinforce the company's activities aimed at generating the research and development of solutions to help the sector overcome the countless challenges of new exploratory frontiers in deep waters.

The main focus of the Brazilian TC's upstream specialty chemical activities will be the "pre-salt" geological area and other deep water exploration and production operations in Brazil and other parts of the world that are new frontiers, such as Africa's west coast and the Gulf of Mexico. The main lines of research will include the development of multifunctional products that facilitate supply logistics in the most distant exploration and production areas, such as the pre-salt fields.

Brazil's TC will work in close cooperation with other global centers of Clariant Oil Services located in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany and Malaysia, as well as its testing laboratory in Norway. "All P&D centers work together in an integrated way, thus favoring the synergies that are essential to generate innovation," said Carlo Tooge, Clariant Oil & Mining Services' Vice President for Latin America.   The Technology Center  will also provide support  for the company's TECs (Technical Excellence Centers) in Argentina, Colombia and Venezuela, as well as for applications laboratories located in various Latin American countries.

"It is important to be close to emerging hydrocarbon production hubs like Brazil, which, during the last few decades, has consolidated its know-how and command of deep water technologies, advancing toward new exploratory frontiers that continuously demand innovative solutions," said Tooge, explaining why Brazil was chosen to host the company's first Technology Center for the oil sector in Latin America. He added that Clariant has been operating in the Brazilian oil and gas market for more than 40 years and the sector currently represents one of the company's main businesses in the country. "We are the major company in the Brazilian market that has chemical application and synthesis technology and is thus able to design molecules that support the pre-salt area's new technological demands."

He also revealed that the allocation of resources to this technology center is in fact part of Clariant's broader business strategy in Brazil, a priority market for the company. "With the intensification of exploratory and production activities, the Brazilian industry will demand a large number of chemical solutions in order to optimize these activities. This is why it is fundamental that we reinforce our efforts aimed at the research and development of effective solutions with a low environmental impact to meet these needs," Tooge said.

R&D and Training
Clariant Oil Services' Technology Center in Brazil will be able to develop solutions for all oil and gas sector activities, mainly in the up-stream deep-water and pre-salt areas, from the exploration phase (well drilling and completion) to production (production enhancement, integrity, flow assurance).

Besides the most modern equipment, the TC will have a training center for all Latin American employees, thus increasing and fostering sustainable growth through human and technological development. A highly qualified team structured according to areas of application and composed of professionals with strong academic qualifications and wide knowledge and experience in the sector, will work jointly with other research centers to cater globally to the needs of other regions, such as the Gulf of Mexico and Africa's west coast.

This way of operating is in the DNA of Clariant Oil Services, whose headquarters are located in Houston, Texas (USA), and which has a global reach and is represented in the world's main oil and gas markets. With a complete range of chemical products and services designed to reduce costs, minimize risks and maximize production efficiency, (especially in more complex environments such as deep and ultra-deep waters, including pre-salt fields), Clariant Oil Services is one of the main product and service companies in this segment and the one that is recording the fastest growth in relation to its market peers.

The main products in Clariant Oil Services' portfolio include: exploration additives (drilling muds, cementing additives, completion and stimulation fluids), solutions for upstream operations (contaminants and bacterial control, anti-foam agents, corrosion and emulsion control, waste treatment) specific products and services for production at low temperatures, in deep waters and pre-salt fields for heavy oil, as well as at high temperatures and pressures. In the pipeline area, it provides solutions for cleaning, hydrotesting and integrity management. In the refining area, it supplies flow improvement additives and agents, biodiesel, demulsifiers, incrustation and deposition inhibitors.

The Clariant Oil Services Technology Center is located in Rio de Janeiro's west zone district of Barra da Tijuca.

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Clariant is an internationally active specialty chemical company, based in Muttenz near Basel. The group owns over 100 companies worldwide and employed 22 149 employees on December 31, 2011. In the financial year 2011, Clariant produced a turnover of CHF 7.4 billion. Clariant is divided into eleven business units: Additives; Catalysis & Energy; Emulsions, Detergents & Intermediates; Functional Materials; Industrial & Consumer Specialties; Leather Services; Masterbatches; Oil & Mining Services; Paper Specialties; Pigments; Textile Chemicals.

oil.clariant.com
Clariant Oil Services is a leading provider of chemical technologies and services to the oil, pipeline and refinery industries. A global business with headquarters in Houston, Texas, Clariant Oil Services is represented in all major oil and gas locations. From deepwater exploration to refining, Clariant Oil Services provides chemical products and services designed to reduce customer costs, decrease operational risks and improve production efficiency.

Clariant Oil Services operates state-of-the-art R&D and applications laboratories in the United States, Scotland, Germany, Brazil and Indonesia, as well as an environmental testing laboratory in Norway. Clariant Oil Services' industry experience is supported by a dedicated global technical services network, providing a unique position from which to address and resolve customer challenges anywhere in the world, now and in the future.

Regional Media Relations
Maria Isolina Noguerol
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Clariant SA
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04795-900 São Paulo
Brasil

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Clariant International AG
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SOURCE Clariant Oil Services