17 September, 2024 16:10:10 IST 
SNF Flopam India Pvt Ltd (SNF), the Indian arm of SNF, the French acrylamide-based water-soluble polymer specialist, has announced the inauguration of a new research and development centre in Gandhidham (Kachchh, Gujarat).
The facility, known as Regional SNF Technical Centre (RSTC India), will feature advanced laboratory equipment and specialised resources for polymer studies. It will focus on high-performance anionic polymers (HPAM) for oil & gas applications, with specialised expertise in critical areas like core flooding, compatibility studies, chemical (enhanced oil recovery), water shut-off, hydraulic fracturing, drilling and cementing, and production chemicals.
The French multinational is the world’s leading manufacturer of polyacrylamide with more than 1.5 million tonnes capacity.
SNF operates a manufacturing facility at Gandhidham, from which it sells products with wide range of applications in the oil & gas sector including for drilling, EOR, drag reduction in fracking, water shutoff and produced-water treatment.
At the Vibrant Gujarat Summit 2024 held in January this year, SNF had announced a Rs. 1,000-crore expansion plan which will increase its production capacity from existing 258,000-mt per annum to 458,000-mt per annum.
R&D hub for India
SNF said by establishing the dedicated R&D hub in Gandhidham, the company aims to bring its global expertise in polyacrylamide chemistry and advanced EOR technologies to India.“This centre will also facilitate joint projects with oil operators in India. RSTC-India will make complex core flooding and analytical studies for EOR possible in India. This will significantly reduce the logistic and analysis time of sending samples out of India for testing. The opening of our RSTC India underscores our unwavering dedication to delivering superior solutions and services to our esteemed clients in India,” remarked Mr. Christophe Rivas, Managing Director of Oil and Gas at SNF.
“With this state-of-the-art hub, we aim to contribute to the Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative and support India’s journey toward energy self-reliance. This facility will create ample opportunities for the oil & gas sector in India,” added Mr. Shital Khot, Chairman and Managing Director of SNF Flopam India Pvt Ltd.
This event was attended by dignitaries from ONGC (Mehsana-Ahmedabad Assets), ONGC (IRS and RGL), Vedanta (Cairn India), Oil India, Sun Petro, BASF, Syensqo, Mannan Oil Field Services, Artson, Gumpro, SDF, Petra, IOGCA and representatives from institutes like PDEU (Gandhinagar) and RGIPT (Amethi).
“RSTC-India will be a game changer in chemical EOR fast track implementation. Integrated project management solution provided by SNF at North Kadi (Mehsana Asset) has reduced water cut and increased oil production significantly” remarked by Mr. Bimal Kumar, Head Engineering service Ahmedabad Asset ONGC.
