Petroleum Safety Authority Norway News

A condensate leak occurred on the Gudrun platform in the North Sea on February 18, 2015. The incident has been investigated by Statoil’s corporate investigation team which classifies it to be of the highest degree of seriousness. On the morning of February 18, noise and vibrations were reported on Gudrun, and shortly afterwards hydrocarbons were confirmed in the process module. There was a 2 mm wide crack extending approximately 90 percent across the circumference of a two-inch pipeline. Condensate had leaked from the pipeline and resulted in gas distribution.

Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) Director Brian Salerno will be traveling to Houston for the 2015 Offshore Technology Center May4-7 at NRG Park. The annual conference is an international gathering showcasing leading‐edge technology for offshore drilling, exploration, production, and environmental protection. Director Salerno will be discussing the bureau’s advancements in reducing risk offshore. 1:00 p.m. 7:30 a.m. 2:00 p.m. What: OTC Luncheon with the Center for Offshore Safety: Improving Effectiveness of Safety and Environmental Management Systems and Recognizing Contributions. 12:15 p.m. – 1:45 p.m.

Chinese semi-submersible rig specialist CIMC Raffles has kicked off construction of a deep-water unit destined for operation in Norway’s North Sea and other challenging regions such as the Arctic and Barents Sea.Construction started yesterday. Beacon Atlantic, built for Norway’s rig player North Sea Rigs to the GM4-D design, will be capable of operating in water depths of 500 metres with drilling depth up to 8000 metres. Classed classification society DNV GL, the rig with DP3 system and a drilling package provided by NOV will be built to the Norsok standards, while meeting the requirement set by the Petroleum Safety Authority Norway and the Norwegian Maritime Directorate.

Production from a subsea template at the Snorre B platform in the North Sea has been shut down following the discovery of an abnormal erosion of mass under the template, says Statoil. Statoil add that over  the last 24 hours, no movement has been observed in the pit at the subsea template. The area is under continuous ROV surveillance and sediment samples have been taken. "Brine" (water with heavier sediments) was pumped into the well for a brief period in the event that there was some sort of connection between the pit and the well. There have been no signs of hydrocarbon leaks in any of the surveys carried out since the pit was discovered on 17 May, 2014. "The pit is stable and is being monitored continuously.

Leak detection is a considerable challenge facing the industry, and DNV GL has therefore taken the lead in establishing a new Joint Industry Project (JIP). Twenty key industry players are partnering to develop a best practice for designing and implementing offshore leak detection systems. Over the last few years, following several oil releases, there has been an increasing focus by both operators and authorities on the environmental impact related to offshore oil and gas activities.

Improving and updating Arctic design standards for material, equipment, and offshore structures for the petroleum, petrochemical and natural gas industries. Seventy representatives from seven countries met for two days in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador in early October to further the creation of standards for resource development in the Arctic. The countries represented included Canada, UK, France, Italy, Norway, Netherlands, and Russian Federation. It was the third annual…

DNV is taking lifeboat safety one step further. The company claims that maritime lifeboat safety will be enhanced by transferring offshore lifeboat design practices to ships. The shortcomings of existing free fall lifeboat designs were revealed in a number of incidents related to structural safety, human loads and headway back in 2005. A joint industry project was initiated by OLF (the Norwegian Oil and Gas Association) to find the reasons for these incidents. The project revealed that the SOLAS requirements, on which the design criteria were built, were based on lifeboat performance during test launches into calm waters and from heights significantly smaller than those encountered on host facilities on the Norwegian Continental Shelf.

The Petroleum Safety Authority Norway (PSA) will investigate the recent stability incident on the mobile rig 'Scarabeo 8'. Scarabeo 8 is a semi-submersible drilling facility owned by Saipem SpA Norwegian Branch (Saipem). The facility is currently engaged in exploration drilling for Eni Norge on well 7220/10 in the Barents Sea. Just after 15:00 hours on Tuesday, 4 September, the Scarabeo 8 developed a 5.7-degree list due to unintentional filling of a ballast tank. The incident triggered an alarm and mustering of personnel. There were 140 people on board when the incident occurred.The situation was normalised during the course of an hour. Preliminary findings indicate that the incident was caused by incorrect operation of equipment.

Statoil has forwarded its investigation report following a crane and lifting incident on the Gullfaks A platform in the North Sea on 28 February this year. One person was injured in the incident. In connection with a normal lifting operation from the loading deck to a supply ship, a roustabout was struck in the shoulder by a container. The roustabout was sent to the hospital, where a broken collarbone was confirmed. The cause of the incident was that the container being lifted started to swing in a pendulum motion, striking another container which in turn struck the roustabout.

Statoil has responded today, 29 April, to questions put by the Petroleum Safety Authority Norway (PSA) in connection with its report into the Gullfaks B gas leak on 4 December 2010. “Concern with health, safety and the environment (HSE) is our first priority,” says Øystein Michelsen, executive vice president for Development and Production Norway. Statoil has initiated a number of improvement measures aimed at areas identified in the PSA’s investigation report. These include action over leadership, both on land and in the operational parts of the organisation.

The petroleum industry is facing a new autumn and winter with challenges concerning the lifeboats on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS). Throughout the winter, StatoilHydro will have to continue transferring personnel on some platforms in adverse weather conditions. This could affect production. On Sept. 8 some of the crew on the Visund platform in the North Sea were airlifted to other platforms nearby, or to the mainland. The number of crew on Åsgard B was also reduced during Monday and Tuesday.

StatoilHydro and the Petroleum Safety Authority Norway (PSA) are inquiring into a death on Oseberg B on May 7. StatoilHydro has received the PSA’s investigation report into the North Sea incident, which resulted in the loss of a scaffolder’s life. Representatives from the management and workforce in the group as well as at contractors Aibel and STS will now examine all relevant conditions. This will be followed by the establishment of a detailed action plan within the deadlines set both by StatoilHydro and by the PSA. “Together with the relevant contractors, we’ll be taking the necessary steps to avoid a repetition of such tragic accidents,” says Torstein Hole, senior vice president for the operations west business cluster in StatoilHydro.