PSA Norway in study to improve future field developments

The Petroleum Safety Authority Norway has started what it described as a detailed review to look at challenges and improvement measures involved in field developments on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS).

According to the PSA,  most field developments on the Norwegian shelf are implemented within the time and cost frameworks provided by the plan for development and operation (PDO), however, some projects face challenges.

PSA said: “Some of them have nevertheless faced big challenges with costs and delays during the construction phase as well as with quality and health, safety and the environment (HSE) during start-up and operation.”

Eni’s Goliat project in the Barents Sea is one of the projects to be reviewed in the new PSA study. The field which started producing in 2016, has experienced multiple delays, cost overruns, the electrical installation fails, gas leaks, a fire aboard the unit, serious breaches of the regulations etc…

The safety body has said that apart from Goliat it will also address one or two other field developments in recent years. No decision has yet been taken on what this/these will be.

The study will lead to a report to be used for learning and improvement by both the industry and the government.

In addition to challenges and improvement measures, this report will also describe the experience with aspects which have functioned well.

The work will cover the relevant operator companies, licensees in the production license and the role of government agencies.

In addition, it will address all phases from license award, through the exploration phase, feasibility studies, the concept stage, preparation and approval of the PDO, engineering design, construction and commissioning, to start-up and operation up to the present day. Being conducted by an external consultant, the study is due to be completed in the summer of 2019.

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