Nexans’ umbilicals for Oseberg Delta field

Oil and gas extraction on the Norwegian continental shelf has been given a boost after Nexans recently delivered the first of four “Statoil Standard” umbilicals ordered by the company in 2012. The first umbilical will be employed at the Oseberg Delta field in the Norwegian part of the North Sea.

The “Statoil Standard” Umbilicals are made up of electrical and fibre optic cables, in addition to hydraulic and chemical lines. The standardised technical and administrative procedures developed over the course of the Oseberg project will save time, cost and materials during the execution of the project and in ongoing and future projects.

In December 2012 Nexans was awarded a contract from Statoil to supply static and dynamic umbilicals for three developments on the Norwegian continental shelf: Oseberg Delta field (North Sea), Snøhvit gas field (Barents Sea) and Smørbukk South (Norwegian Sea). In the autumn of 2013 the contract was extended to include the delivery of umbilicals for the Gullfaks Rimfaks Valley gas field. In total, Nexans will provide 50 kilometres of static and dynamic umbilicals.

“Over the course of the Oseberg project, Nexans has created a simplified “package solution”, custom designed to meet Statoil’s administrative and technical requirements. In management and engineering, standard procedures and cost-effective solutions have been developed and can be repeatedly used on future projects,” says Project manager Liv Molvik Lundegaard of Nexans.
The umbilicals delivered by Nexans have been manufactured at Nexans’ specialized facility in Halden, Norway.

The Oseberg field, located some 150 kilometres west of Bergen and managed by Statoil, has produced oil and gas since 1988.

Snøhvit, meanwhile, was the first ever offshore development in the Barents Sea. Natural gas is transported directly onshore from the Snøhvit field where there are no surface installations. It is then liquefied and readied for export at the first plant of its kind in Europe and the world’s northernmost natural gas liquefaction facility. Every day natural gas liquids and condensate are transported a distance of 143 kilometres through the seabed pipeline to Melkøya in Hammerfest.

The Smørbukk Sør Field is part of the Åsgard Unit area at Halten Bank in the Norwegian Sea. Oil production (from P and S templates) and gas injection (to R-template) began at the field in June 1999, and is processed at the Åsgard A floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) unit. The Smørbukk Sør extension, which holds estimated recoverable reserves of 16.5 million barrels, will increase the lifetime of the field for several years.

The main Gullfaks field lies in the northern part of the Norwegian North Sea. It has been developed with three large concrete production platforms: Gullfaks A platform began production in 1986, with Gullfaks B following in 1988 and the Gullfaks C platform in 1989. Produced oil is loaded directly into shuttle tankers on the field, while associated gas is piped to the Kårstø gas treatment plant north of Stavanger and then on to continental Europe.