NEXANS HAS RECEIVED a US$9.8mn order from Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) to manufacture and supply the topside power, control,
instrumentation and telecommunications cables for the FPSO vessel currently under construction for the Usan deepwater oilfield, off the coast of Nigeria. The Nexans Kukdong factory, located in South Korea, will manufacture over 1,700 km of power, control, instrumentation and telecommunications cable for the Usan FPSO. Rated from 1 kV up to 30 kV, the power low voltage and medium voltage cables are compliant with the latest international standards.According to specific applications and considering the complex Oil & Gas environment, Nexans will also provide cables with different insulation types (ERP or XLPE) and armour protections (galvanised steel wire braid or copper wire braid). Moreover, as a leading expert in safety, Nexans provides cables which comply with the most severe safety requirements. Most of Nexans cables’ outer sheath thus integrates a halogen free thermoset compound. Nexans applies its proven expertise in the shipbuilding industry particularly to the offshore top-side market. The cables will be delivered and installed between October 2009 and March 2010. “The Usan FPSO contract demonstrates Nexans total capability to handle both the topside and subsea cable needs of the oil and gas industry, especially in meeting demanding delivery schedules” said Salvatore Di Giorgio, Nexans Global Segment Manager for offshore topside activities. “In fact, we are already working on a contract for Saipem to supply the subsea umbilicals for Usan.”
In December 2008, Nexans was awarded one of the largest umbilical orders ever received (US$58.6mn contract by EMC B.V, a subsidiary of Saipem S.p.A.) to develop, manufacture and supply umbilicals and associated equipment for the subsea development of Usan deepwater oilfield.
The 114,000 tonne Usan FPSO will measure 320 m in length and 61 m in width, with a depth of 32 m. It will have the capacity to produce 160,000 barrels of oil and 5 mmcm of gas per day, and will be able to store 2mn barrels of oil.
The Usan field development will be operated by Elf Petroleum, Total’s main subsidiary in Nigeria, and is located around 100 km offshore southeast of Bonny Island in Nigeria at depths of 750-900 m. The development plan involves 23 subsea production wells and 19 water and gas injector wells tied back to the FPSO vessel, and it is expected to come online early in 2012.