PSA Probe Spots Deficiencies in Gullfaks B Ops Management

The Petroleum Safety Authority Norway (PSA) has detected several non-conformities and improvement points in an audit of Statoil’s management of operations and barriers at Gullfaks B.

Statoil is the operator of the Gullfaks field in the North Sea west of Sognefjord. The field has been developed using three integrated facilities with concrete jackets. The oil is shipped from the field by tanker, while the gas is piped to the processing facility at Kårstø. Production on the Gullfaks field began in 1986.

From 21 to 29 November 2016, the PSA carried out an audit of Statoil’s management and follow-up of barriers in relation to the regulations and the company’s own requirements. The audit was conducted in the form of meetings at Statoil’s offices in Trondheim and as verifications on board Gullfaks B.

According to PSA, the audit revealed non-conformities relating to:

• Competence in respect of maintenance of hydrocarbon-carrying systems;
• Documentation for overhauling and recertifying BOPs;
• Manning for monitoring and control;
• Ventilation in electrical switchgear room;
• Chemical exposure;
• Deck gratings in gangways;
• Labelling of pipe systems, valves and equipment.

In addition, improvement points were detected in connection with:

• Strategies and principles for barrier management;
• Descriptions of maintenance tasks and feedback requirements;
• List of cutting forces for cutting drill strings;
• Noise conditions.

Statoil has been given a deadline of February 27, 2017 to report on how the non-conformities will be dealt with and how the improvement points will be assessed.