Equinor tasked with tackling five improvement points at Johan Sverdrup

After carrying out an audit of technical safety, working environment, fire insulation, handling of corrosion under insulation (CUI) and collection of environmental data on Johan Sverdrup, Norway’s offshore safety regulator is awaiting a response from Equinor regarding the way the identified improvement points will be sorted out.

The Petroleum Safety Authority Norway (PSA) disclosed on Wednesday, 22 February 2023, that it had conducted the audit from 15 November 2022 to 12 January 2023, with the objective of investigating whether Equinor met the requirements for technical safety, the working environment, fire insulation, the handling of corrosion under insulation (CUI), and the collection of environmental data.

While the offshore safety watchdog did not find any nonconformities during the investigation, the regulator identified five improvement points related to the chemical working environment, noise, flange tag information requirements, collection of environmental data, and temporary insulation.

With the PSA’s investigation completed, Equinor has been asked to provide an assessment of the improvement points observed by 28 February 2023.

With estimated resources of 2.7 billion barrels of oil equivalent, the Johan Sverdrup field, located on the Utsira High in the central part of the North Sea in a water depth of 110-120 metres, is the third-largest oil field on the Norwegian continental shelf. The field, discovered in 2010, has an estimated 50-year lifespan.

The field receives power from shore through cables from Haugsneset north of Stavanger. Back in March 2022, Aibel completed and delivered the second processing platform (P2) for the Johan Sverdrup project, which is the fifth and final platform for the field. The platform was installed using the Allseas-owned and world’s largest heavy-lift vessel, Pioneering Spirit, a few days later.

In December 2022, Equinor started production from the Johan Sverdrup Phase 2 project, ensuring that the entire field was online. The Norwegian giant officially opened the second phase of the Johan Sverdrup field earlier this month.

The second phase consists of a new platform, five new subsea systems, 28 new wells, a new module for the existing riser platform, and facilities to send power from shore to the Utsira High area.