"EUPEC PIPECOATINGS AZERBAIJAN - THE WORLD OF COATING"

EUPEC PipeCoatings Azerbaijan ("EUPEC Azerbaijan") has been established as a joint venture between EUPEC PipeCoatings Gmbh of Germany and Azpetrol Group of Azerbaijan. It was established and is operating under the laws of the Azerbaijan Republic since 2002. EUPEC Azerbaijan is the only plant of its kind in the Caspian Sea Region.

The Site and Logistics

The pipe coating facility is set up in the industrial area of Baku thus offering excellent facilities for coating services to the offshore and onshore pipeline projects. The site covers the area of approximately 260,000 square meters, with its own rail connection capable of receiving a rail stock of 45 railcars at once for load-in and load-out of pipes or coating materials. The facility also has its own quay (jetty), which allows for efficient and cost effective load-in and load-out operations for pipe carrying vessels.

The ability to load in bare pipes and load out concrete coated pipes in a safe manner has been one of EUPEC Azerbaijan's main goals, and EUPEC Azerbaijan is proud to have installed, in Baku, cranes and lifting devices specifically designed and adapted for 'unmanned' pipe lifting operations. As a result, all lifting operations of bare and corrosion-coated pipes in the yard are performed by cranes equipped with vacuum lifting equipment, whereas hydraulic spreader bars are used for stockpiling concrete coated pipes.

With average of 2,5 million lifts per year, EUPEC Azerbaijan is considered to be the company with the largest number of lifts in Azerbaijan. This result is achieved by having the most modern, reliable, efficient and safe lifting equipment available on the world market.

Coating Facility

Since March 2003 EUPEC Azerbaijan has installed and commissioned the state of the art coating plant with the capability to produce Fusion Bonded Epoxy (FBE), 3-Layer Polyolefin (polyethylene or polypropylene) coated, internal Flow Coat and Concrete Weight Coated pipes. Using synergy of EUPEC Group, EUPEC Azerbaijan also offers Special Coatings (small diameter pipes and all bends and risers with special coatings, such as Glass Flex Vinyl Epoxy and Polychroloprene for the splash zones) as needed for the onshore and offshore pipeline industry. At the moment the company has one the most modern coating facilities in the world.

The plant is designed to coat pipes of 12" to 48" outside diameter with single pipe length of up to 12,5 meters. The coating capacity averages 160 pipes per shift depending on the pipe diameter, wall thickness and the thickness of the corrosion and concrete weight coating.

Projects

EUPEC Azerbaijan has been awarded the contract by Azerbaijan International Operating Company (AIOC) for the anti-corrosion and concrete weight coating of the offshore pipes for the Phase I and Phase II of the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli (ACG) FFD Project. The Phase I part of the project had comprised the anti-corrosion and concrete coating of 204 km of 18" and 28" OD pipes, which was followed by the anti-corrosion and concrete coating of 271km of all infield lines with the OD ranging from 6" to 22" as well as 30" pipes for the trunk line under the Phase II of the ACG FFD Project.

On the completion of the coating of linepipe for Phase II, work at EUPEC Azerbaijan will continue with the Shah Deniz Pipelines Project. EUPEC Azerbaijan was honored to sign the new contract with BP for the coating of linepipe for the Shah Deniz Gas Export Project on 1st June 2004. Under the project, 290 km of steel pipes of 4", 12" and 26" OD will be anti-corrosion coated, with 200 km of these receiving concrete weight coating.

People and Safety

EUPEC Azerbaijan's mission is not only to coat pipes to the best quality, but also to train its workforce to carry out operations in a manner that minimizes risks and avoids incidents.

"No harm to People, Property or Environment" continues to be the one of EUPEC Azerbaijan's key safety objectives.