BP pumps set depth record
UK supermajor BP said it had started up the world’s deepest subsea multi-phase pumps at its King oilfield in the Gulf of Mexico.
BP said the twin pumps, 5500 feet below the surface, lie almost twice as deep as the previously record installation.
The company said the pumps also set a world record for distance from their host platform. The pumps lie 15 miles (24 kilometres) from the Marlin tension-leg platform.
BP said the breakthrough would enhance companies’ ability to recover oil from deepwater fields. The pumps would boost output from the King oilfield by 20% and extend its life by five years, it said.
The King field started production in 2002 and peaked at output of about 27,000 barrels of oil per day in 2004.
BP said the pumps, each weighing about 92 tonnes, had been supplied by Norway’s Aker Kvaerner, who helped to install them together with Italian contractor Saipem and AMC. Umbilicals for the project were supplied by Norway’s Nexans.