EoW March 2009

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EuroWire – March 2009 46
english technology news
Nexans has been awarded a €42 million
contract by EMC BV, a subsidiary of
Saipem SpA, to develop, manufacture
and supply umbilicals and associated
equipment for the subsea development
of Usan deepwater oilfield, off the coast of
Nigeria. The contract is one of the largest
umbilical orders ever received by Nexans
and confirms the company’s position in
the subsea umbilical sector.
Nexans’ specialist umbilical facility in
Halden, Norway will produce thirty
individual lengths of umbilical for the
Usan project, to be delivered on 17 reels.
The umbilicals, which will supply vital
control functions and chemicals for the
subsea systems, will connect the wells and
the FPSO (floating, production, storage
and offloading) unit. Delivery is scheduled
to start in the autumn of 2009.
“The Usan umbilical contract calls for
high levels of product quality and
project management,” said Patrick Barth,
managing director of Nexans’ HV and
accessories business group. “We have
successfully delivered a number of
previous projects for Saipem and we
believe that this track record – combined
with our good working relationship and a
high level of cooperation – were the key
factors that enabled us to win this latest
contract.”
In 2008, Nexans delivered similar
umbilicals to EMC BV for the Akpo field in
the same area.
The Usan oilfield is located off the south
Nigerian coast, in water depths ranging
from 750m to 850m. Usan is expected
to come on stream early in 2012 and to
ramp up quickly to plateau production of
180,000 barrels of oil per day.
The field development plan comprises
23 producer wells and 19 water and gas
injector wells, tied back to an FPSO unit
with a storage capacity of two million
barrels of oil.
Nexans – France
Fax: +33 15669 8484
Email:
Website :
Subsea umbilical contract for Nigerian oilfield
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