Our Arctic Neighbors: Norwegian regulator keeps eye on Arctic

Petroleum Safety Authority wants closer cooperation with Russia in Barents Sea, higher safety standards and use of new technology

Sarah Hurst

For Petroleum News

The Norwegian government is working to develop petroleum industry health, safety and environmental standards which will apply to both the Norwegian and the Russian sectors of the Barents Sea, the country’s Petroleum Safety Authority says in its annual report. Published in February, the report is titled “Safety — Status and Signals.”

Official regulations for petroleum operations differ in the Norwegian and Russian parts of the Barents Sea, but cross-border cooperation is being pursued, the report said.

“Safety levels must be at least on a par with those in the North Sea, while also taking account of the demanding conditions found in the far north,” it said.

“Safety systems depend on ensuring that equipment like hydraulics or firefighting gear doesn’t ice up,” principal engineer Per Endresen, who is working for PSA on process safety in Arctic regions, said in the report. “Some process technology adaptations are also needed, such as fuels and lubricants which can cope with lower temperatures. Extensive areas of mobile units or fixed installations must be enclosed to protect personnel and hardware against climatic extremes. And heating will play a more central role. Weather conditions in these waters also call for better planning of maintenance and supplies.”

The report notes that the Melkoya liquefied natural gas plant for the Snohvit project in the Barents Sea is one of eight land-based petroleum plants that the PSA has responsibility for.

“Both the construction of complex facilities and combined operation and development make big demands on safety. Supervising the land-based plants has therefore been both demanding and important,” Ann Vatten, one of the PSA’s two directors for supervisory activities, said in the report.

“To enhance robustness and output even further, a number of modification jobs are planned for Melkoya,” the report said. “The PSA’s attention in 2009 will be concentrated particularly on managing the risks of doing this work while production continues.”

Growing integration between petroleum facilities offshore and on land means that activities at sea and on land have to be seen from a unified perspective, Vatten added.

“Increased transfer of experience between offshore personnel and people at facilities on land is one benefit of such tighter integration,” she said.