Offshore staff
OSLO, Norway -- Petroleum Safety Authority Norway (PSA) has asked for proposals on how to reduce hydrocarbon leaks and well control incidents on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS).
Between 2002 and 2007, PSA says, there was a positive trend in the number of hydrocarbon leaks larger than 0.1 kg/sec. That year, the industry achieved its goal of reducing leaks of this type to a maximum of 10 per year.
In 2008-10, however, numbers rose to 14-15 per annum.
The same trend applies to well control incidents, where a steady improvement over the years has recently halted. There were 11 such incidents reported on the NCS in 2008, climbing to 28 by 2010.
PSA’s findings are drawn from figures compiled for its latest report on trends in risk level in the petroleum activity (RNNP).
Magne Ognedal, director-general of the PSA, said it was important for the industry to reverse “the negative trend. “Participants in the meeting agreed to draw up proposals for bringing developments back on a positive track.” These must be submitted to PSA on April 27, when the overall results from the RNNP process for 2010 will be presented.
04/01/2011
