Power Engineering for King’s Quay FPS

Project overview

Black-start offshore power generation
Three 4160-V turbine-driven generators
Backup diesel power sources
Low- & medium-voltage distribution
Integrated PMS & relay protection
American Bureau of Shipping & US Coast Guard compliance

Scope of work

Project summary

Audubon provided power engineering solutions for Murphy Oil Corporation to deliver reliable power on its King’s Quay floating production system (FPS) in deepwater Gulf of Mexico.

For the semisubmersible FPS, Audubon designed a power distribution system consisting of three 4160-V Solar Taurus™ 70 natural gas, turbine-driven generators in a 3 × 50% configuration. They feed into a switchgear delivering power to the low-voltage system and to medium-voltage users, including the vapor recovery unit and pipeline pumps driven by water-cooled variable frequency drives (VFDs). The system also features two diesel backup sources that automatically start upon detection of a loss of turbine power. An integrated power management system (PMS) allows automatic oversight capabilities, such as restoring turbine power, main-tie-main transfer, intelligent load shedding, and remote relay modification. Relay engineering, including settings and coordination, ensured robust protection for the offshore power system.

These power engineering services were part of Audubon’s larger project scope for Murphy Oil and contributed to successful startup and production of the King’s Quay FPS—up to 80,000 barrels of oil and 100 million cubic feet of gas per day.