By Nexans

Paris -  Nexans, the worldwide leader in the cable industry, has been awarded a contract worth around 6 million Euros by Sevmash, Russia's largest shipbuilding company, to develop, manufacture and supply low-temperature and ice-resistant control, instrumentation and power cables for the marine ice-protected Prirazlomnaya stationary oil production platform in the Barents Sea.

The Prirazlomnya platform has been constructed specially for the development of the Prirazlomnoye oil field and is the first oil production project on the Russian Arctic shelf. This area is characterized by extremely low temperatures and high ice loads. It is ice-free for only 110 days a year, the annual average temperature is -4ºC and winter temperatures can fall as low as -50ºC. The severe climate and harsh operating conditions presented by the high ice loads require unique marine cable technologies to provide the optimum combination of low-temperature resistance and fire resistant, low smoke halogen free properties.

The special cables for Sevmash, totalling around 850 km, will be produced in the specialized facilities of Nexans Kukdong Electric Wire Co, Korea. Production has already started, and deliveries will continue until the end of 2011.

“This major low temperature resistant cable contract for this remarkable project reinforces the position of Nexans as a market leader in the oil and gas segment“, said Salvatore Di Giorgio, Global Segment Manager for Oil & Gas Offshore Topside Business. “This contract with Sevmash will play a key role in helping Nexans to develop its business and increase market share in Russia“.

The Prirazlomnoye oil field was founded in 1989. It is located 60 km offshore on the Pechora sea shelf. The Prirazlomnaya marine ice-resistant stationary platform is essential to the devlopment of this oil field. It is a multifunctional complex constructed to offer the possibility of accepting oil from other oil fields. Its capacity is 22 000 tons of oil and 1 million cubic metres of gas per day.