Aker Solutions to Supply Umbilicals for Liuhua FPSO

Aker Solutions said it has been contracted to deliver power umbilical systems to China National Offshore Oil Corporation's (CNOOC) Liuhua oil fields in the South China Sea, off Hong Kong.

The order, which is said to be worth more than NOK 350 million ($36.6 million), was booked in the third quarter of 2018. The work scope includes more than 35 kilometers of dynamic and static power umbilicals for the Liuhua 16-2, 20-2 and 21-2 fields, linking the subsea development to a new floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) unit.

Power umbilical systems are bundled cable and fiber optic systems providing distribution of power, control and communication between subsea equipment on the seafloor and platforms or floating production facilities. The static section of the Liuhua 16-2 umbilical will be engineered using Aker Solutions' advanced manufacturing process called OsciLay.

"OsciLay is a unique manufacturing method which addresses challenges of more extreme tension loads during installation, eliminating splicing of cables due to manufacturing weight limitations," said Greg Ross, Aker Solutions' vice president of subsea sales in Asia Pacific. "OsciLay allows us to manufacture extremely long or heavy power umbilicals which will otherwise be limited using conventional manufacturing approaches."

Aker Solutions facilities around the world will p[itch in to support the project. Aker Solutions' team in Malaysia will lead the engineering work, while production and manufacturing will take place at Aker Solutions' umbilical production facility in Mobile, Ala. in the U.S.

Project delivery is set for the end of 2019 for Liuhua 16-2 and 20-2, and in 2020 for Liuhua 21-2.

Aker Solutions first worked on a subsea project with CNOOC in 2010, and has since provided subsea production system for Liuhua 19-5 and Yacheng 13-4 gas fields.

"We are honored to work with CNOOC again to demonstrate our capabilities in China," said Luis Araujo, chief executive officer of Aker Solutions. "Liuhua is an important project and we look forward to providing umbilicals which meet its long-distance power transmission requirements."