Det norske detects hydrocarbon leak on Alvheim FPSO, stops production

On Thursday morning, Det norske oljeselskap was informed about a hydrocarbon leak in the pump room aboard the Alvheim floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) unit, located in the North Sea offshore Norway. 

Det norske oljeselskap is the operator of the Alvheim field with 65% working interest. Partners in the license are ConocoPhillips with a 20%, and Lundin Norway with 15% interest.

According to the company’s press release late on Thursday, this triggered a gas alarm on board, and all production was stopped immediately. Det norske’s offshore and onshore emergency response organization was immediately mobilized, the company said.

The crew on board managed to stop the leak after a short period of time and there was no discharge into the Sea in connection with the incident, Det norske further said.

The operator stated that the production at the Alvheim FPSO is expected to be back to normal within the next 24 hours.

Production from the Alvheim field, developed with an FPSO vessel and subsea wells, started on June 8, 2008.

Oil is transported from the field with shuttle tanker, and associated gas is exported through the Scottish Area Gas Evacuation (SAGE) system to St Fergus in Scotland.

The field is estimated to contain total recoverable resources of approximately 90 million barrels of oil equivalents, net to Det norske.

Offshore Energy Today Staff