Safety probe finds irregularities at Statoil, Gassco-run facilities

Norway’s offshore safety watchdog Petroleum Safety Authority (PSA) has found irregularities during an audit of the Sture terminal and the Kollsnes processing plants in Øygarden, operated by Statoil and Gassco, respectively.

From 5 to 7 December 2016, the PSA carried out audits of the operators’ follow-up of scaffolding, crane and lifting operations and management of OHAS at the two facilities.

One main conclusion from the audits is that the technical personnel working on crane and lifting operations and OHAS are knowledgeable and committed, and that, notably through the use of various tools for mapping the working environment, a number of solid improvement measures for the facilities have been identified.

However, non-conformities and improvement points have been detected, primarily relating to the companies’ management and organisation, including the ability to assess whether their own observations represent non-conformities in respect of statutory or corporate requirements. This means that the companies have poorer decision-support for prioritising risk-reducing measures.

Statoil and Gassco were told to report on how the non-conformities would be dealt with and how the improvement points would be assessed by February 8, 2017, at the latest.

Both the Sture and Kollsnes facilities are located at Øygarden in Hordaland county, west of Bergen. The Sture terminal, operated by Statoil, receives crude oil and condensate from the Oseberg area and the Grane field by pipeline.

The Kollsnes processing plant processes gas from the Troll, Kvitebjørn, and Visund offshore fields. Gassco is the operator of the facilities, while Statoil is the technical operations provider.