Equinor tasked with assessment of improvement points for North Sea platform

Norwegian offshore safety regulator has carried out an audit of the integrity and barrier management of flexible risers and associated safety systems and corrosion under insulation at one of the Equinor-operated North Sea platforms.

The Petroleum Safety Authority Norway (PSA) informed last week that it had conducted the audit from 7 to 10 November 2022 with the objective of monitoring how Equinor was working to reduce the risk of major accidents, with a focus on preventing losses of containment at the Troll B platform.

In addition, the regulator wanted to monitor how the Norwegian giant handled integrity and barrier management of corrosion under insulation (CUI) and flexible risers, as well as the interaction of float and riser movements at this platform to ensure that operations comply with internal requirements and regulations.

The offshore safety watchdog highlighted that no nonconformities were identified during the audit. However, two improvement points were observed in connection to the follow-up of maintenance of emergency shutdown valves for risers and the follow-up of policy documents.

Therefore, the regulator has asked Equinor to provide an assessment of the observed improvement points by 15 January 2023.

Located in the northern part of the North Sea, the Troll B platform is used on the Troll field along with Troll A and C platforms. The field lies about 65 kilometres west of Kollsnes near Bergen. According to Equinor, this is one of the largest oil fields on the NCS.

When it comes to Equinor’s electrification plans for the Troll field, it is worth noting that the Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Industry approved the energy giant’s plan for the development and operation of this field in December 2021, enabling it to turn its Troll West electrification plans into reality.