Offshore safety body spots irregularities on Ekofisk

Norwegian offshore safety watchdog, the Petroleum Safety Authority (PSA), has found irregularities during an audit of ConocoPhillips’ Ekofisk in the North Sea.

PSA said on Thursday that the audit of Ekofisk was conducted from September 17 to 21, 2018. The objective of the audit of ConocoPhillips Skandinavia AS was to verify that aspects of the management of logistics, scaffolding and access techniques, including the working environment and employee participation, relating to activities at Ekofisk 2/4 J, M, Z, L, B, and K, met relevant requirements in the HSE regulations.

The audit noted four non-conformities in connection with monitoring of MOB boat forerunners, access to offshore cranes, follow-up of scaffolding, and working environment for scaffolding, insulation and painting personnel.

Also, improvement points were identified regarding arrangements for materials handling, safety marking in the field, local procedures, and manuals for lifting appliances and lifting gear.

The PSA told ConocoPhillips Scandinavia to report on how the non-conformities and improvement points would be addressed by November 16, 2018.

It is worth noting that ConocoPhillips received consent from the PSA back in September to use the Ekofisk 2/4 VC facility offshore Norway.

Ekofisk

On December 23, 1969, Phillips Petroleum – now ConocoPhillips – informed the Norwegian government that it had discovered Ekofisk – one of the largest offshore oil fields ever found.

The field, located some 200 kilometers south of Stavanger, started production in 1971 via the Gulftide platform and is in production even today, more than four decades after the original discovery.

The Greater Ekofisk Area today comprises four producing fields: Ekofisk, Eldfisk, Embla, and Tor. Crude oil is exported to Teesside, England, and the natural gas is exported to Emden, Germany.