BP King Subsea Pump

First power umbilical with steel tubes

Project description:

• The BP King Field is situated in the Gulf of Mexico. The depth is 1700 metres.
• In 2005, Nexans won the contract for this project, which forms part of the framework agreement with BP.
• The delivery includes power umbilicals for the operation of multiphase pumps.

Challenges of the project:

• The world’s first steel tube umbilical with integrated high voltage cable.
• The concept of integrating a high voltage cable with a control umbilical is very challenging from both a mechanical and an electrical design perspective, with electrical interference between the cables and inductive losses in the steel tubes representing particular challenges.
• An additional challenge is the fact that the cables will operate at depths of over 1700 metres.

Nexans' solution:

• Nexans delivered a dynamic power umbilical of 23,352 metres and a static power umbilical of 4190 metres.
• Integrating power and control umbilicals into a single unit makes the provision of high voltage (24 kV) in deep water possible. Installing a single combined unit is both cost-saving and rational compared with a split solution involving several umbilicals.