Solvay Marks 15th Anniversary of SolefÂ® 60512 PVDF Resin in Flexible Risers and Flowlines for Oil & Gas

Solvay Specialty Polymers USA, LLC May 10, 2013

BOLLATE, Italy – Solvay Specialty Polymers is celebrating its 15th anniversary as the global supplier of SolefÂ® 60512 polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) resin for the oil and gas industry. Since its commercial development in 1998, SolefÂ® 60512 has become the material of choice for demanding applications such as flexible risers, umbilicals, pipe liners, and high-performance pipes and tubing.

One of the leading suppliers of highly engineered flexible pipe systems for offshore applications, NOV Flexibles in Denmark, also marks 15 years of producing pipe made of SolefÂ® 60512 PVDF with no service failures ever reported. This unbroken track record dates back to 1998 when NOV Flexibles installed its first pipe in the BANFF field in the North Sea. SolefÂ® PVDF is a key component of the company's deep-water riser concepts, withstanding high pressure and high temperatures. NOV Flexibles uses SolefÂ® 60512 in single-layer extrusion over the metallic carcass, a unique safety benefit in risers to prevent gas accumulation between polymeric layers.

"SolefÂ® has an outstanding track record in terms of safety, long-term performance, and reliability in the oil and gas industry and has become the industry standard for harsh field conditions," said Marie Schmidt, oil and gas global market manager for Solvay Specialty Polymers. "Over 700 km of pipe made of SolefÂ® 60512 have already been produced and installed globally."

SolefÂ® 60512 was developed in the early 1990s specifically for offshore applications. It offers a unique combination of mechanical and thermal properties, very low permeation to fluids and gases, as well as excellent chemical resistance. It contains no plasticizer, thus ensuring safe, long-term performance with no migration or loss of additives over time. Among its many attributes, SolefÂ® 60512 offers excellent resistance to sour gas and good chemical compatibility with supercritical CO2 at high temperature and in polluted mixtures, showing low weight increase and minimal effects on mechanical properties when exposed to this fluid commonly used as a solvent in Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR).

SolefÂ® PVDF resins are best in class for corrosion protection in hydrocarbon service pipelines and flowlines that also carry significant amounts of CO2, H2S, and free water. PVDF liners are an effective, economic, reliable alternative to current industry solutions such as increasing wall thickness with carbon steel, implementing chemical dosing, or specifying corrosion-resistant alloys.

According to Solvay, global demand for SolefÂ® PVDF has been strong over the last five years in a wide variety of markets such as films, Li-Ion batteries, membranes, water supply systems, and wire and cable, in addition to oil and gas. In 2012, the company made a significant investment to increase capacity at its major PVDF plant in Tavaux, France. Continued investments in the global supply chain are planned to support further scheduled expansions for PVDF production around the world.

About Solvay Specialty PolymersÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â

Solvay Specialty Polymers manufactures over 1500 products across 35 brands of high-performance polymers – fluoropolymers, fluoroelastomers, fluorinated fluids, semi-aromatic polyamides, sulfone polymers, aromatic ultra polymers, high-barrier polymers and cross-linked high-performance compounds – for use in Aerospace, Alternative Energy, Automotive, Healthcare, Membranes, Oil and Gas, Packaging, Plumbing, Semiconductors, Wire and Cable, and other markets. Learn more at www.solvayspecialtypolymers.com.

As an international chemical group, SOLVAY assists industries in finding and implementing ever more responsible and value-creating solutions. The Group is firmly committed to sustainable development and focused on innovation and operational excellence. Solvay serves diversified markets, generating 90% of its turnover in activities where it is one of the top three worldwide. The group is headquartered in Brussels, employs about 29,000 people in 55 countries and generated 12.4 billion euros in net sales in 2012. Solvay SA SOLB.BE) is listed on NYSE Euronext in Brussels and Paris (Bloomberg: SOLB.BB - Reuters: SOLBt.BR).

Press Contact:

Joseph Grande

413-684-2463