Shlangenz. Striving for more

Aleksandr Tkachenko, the General Director of Shlangenz LLC, in an interview with the SPHERE. OIL AND GAS edition tells about the main Company's activities, as well as the main changes over the past year

- Aleksandr, we talked to you a year ago on the occasion of the Schlangenz Company tenth anniversary. Tell us about the main Company's activity, the changes over the past year.

- In 2018, we rebranded the Company, not only modifying the logo and corporate colors but also improving the integrated approach to business dealing. The site redesign is at the completion stage. We have become an even more customer-oriented and modern company.

This past year, the Department of oilfield services equipment noted drilling hose production and supply increase by 21% in comparison with 2017, which indicates the growing confidence of the Russian oilfield services companies in our products.

Over the past year, the company has developed a device for attaching the cable to the drilling hose, due to which there is no contact of the metal cable with the hose surface, significantly increasing the service life of the drilling hoses. Hoses with protective cover "Broneks", preventing the outer rubber layer from mechanical damage, were supplied. Hoses with working pressure of 105 MPa (1036 ATM) were produced and tested.

The Company has also completed the pilot projects of a new product. The manufacturing of unique cable protection for the top drive of the drilling rig was launched. It is an external protective hose made of wear-resistant rubber, resistant to drilling fluids and corresponding to the required safety level of oilfield facilities. Protective hoses are effectively used to create cable systems for the top drive on wells under the far north conditions.

In 2018, the Company's employees have developed a specialized metal hose of 50 mm, producing in a protective rolled hoses with protective springs on both sides. The design allows extending the hose operational properties under the conditions of the far north, protecting neutral areas from fracture.

As for fluoroplastic hoses, the Schlangenz design department developed a batch of hoses with unique parameters with a diameter of 400 mm, with no analogues in Russia.

In November 2018, the Shlangenz Company won the competition "Best exporter of the Novgorod region in 2017" among small and medium-sized businesses in the category "Export of industrial products".

- Tell us about the Company's plans for 2019.

- At the customers' request and oil service companies, the technological and technical solutions were developed to prevent and eliminate the consequences of hoses improper operation at customers' sites (hoses drawing, cuts, etc.). The Shlangenz specialists suggested using a special polypropylene cover required for protection against external mechanical influences. As part of it the company's employees are testing the modified rubber used for the outer hose layer to strengthen abrasion resistance. At the moment the Department of oilfield services equipment of Shlangenz is able to supply high-pressure hoses, polypropylene coated to a large Russian drilling company. Shlangenz specialists together with the specialists of the large Russian drilling company developed the first series of complete and accurate user manual for drill hoses. The document includes 7 sections: description and operation, use, maintenance, transportation, storage, disposal and warranty. The new manual expanded the list of safe and lean operation methods, included additional methods of hoses strapping, detailed description of proper storage technology in accordance with Russian standards. The Shlangenz Company supplied a new manual copy with each hose supplied to a customer.

In 2019, the Shlangenz company started to expand its global role at the oilfield services market. In December last year, Shlangenz concluded a contract with a large Russian oil company on the supply of drilling hoses to Vietnam. The first batch of hoses has been already produced and operated.

- Tell us about the basic principles of your work, missions, and Company's values:

- Reliability is Shlangenz main principle in products design and production. Shlangenz is constantly improving its products: replaces outdated production technologies and selects durable materials designed for severe loads. Aiming at it a significant part of financial planning is targeted at research and development. An updated product line is preceded by a thorough analysis of the existing new materials properties and the design of a prototype by the company's designers, followed by testing in the testing laboratory. According to the test results, it is going to conduct the equipment batch production.

The strength of our company is also the competent and active personnel. We properly consider the professional growth of every employee by seminars, trainings and refresher courses participation. We always work for the results and we appreciate long-term partnership. Our values are: production of high quality, modern production capacities, responsibility, and employees’ professionalism.