On 27 March 2012, the Petroleum Safety Authority Norway (PSA) carried out an audit of Lundin Norway AS’ management of the Brynhild field development project, connected to subsea facilities and pipelines.
The Brynhild field is being developed with a subsea facility with four wells that will be connected to the Pierce field on the UK shelf through subsea pipeline systems. The audit is related to the main priority regarding the external environment, which entails that PSA carries out audits to ensure the industry works in a targeted manner to prevent accidents that could lead to acute spills.
Background
Brynhild is Lundin Norway AS’ (Lundin’s) first independent field development on the Norwegian shelf. The pipeline systems that connect the subsea facility to the floating production facility on the Pierce field have pipe-in-pipes, which means that the oil-bearing pipe is located inside a protective pipe.
Objective
The objective of the audit was to follow up to ensure that Lundin implements preventive measures that are proportional to the possible consequences of an accident with potential environmental damage. The audit focused on Lundin’s management of project deliveries, follow-up of suppliers and governing documentation related to subsea facilities and pipeline systems.
Results
The overall impression was that the project is managed in accordance with recognised management principles for this type of development project. The company appears to have allocated sufficient capacity and expertise for the project, and have included personnel with extensiveexperience both from operating companies and from the supplier industry.
No nonconformities were identified in relation to the regulations, but improvement items were identified in connection with:
– Organisational independency during internal review
– Approval of the project’s governing documents
[mappress] Subsea World News Staff , April 25, 2012; Image: Lundin Norway