Norway’s safety watchdog, the Petroleum Safety Authority (PSA), has found two improvement points during an audit of load-bearing structures and maritime systems on Statoil’s Åsgard B platform.
The Statoil-operated Åsgard oil and gas field in the Norwegian Sea is located around 200 kilometers from the Trøndelag coast.
The field has been developed using the two mobile production platforms Åsgard A and B, along with the storage facility Åsgard C. Production from Åsgard A began in 1999, while Åsgard B and C came on stream in 2000.
PSA said on Thursday that it wanted to see how Statoil is maintaining the integrity of load-bearing structures and maritime systems in the platform’s operational phase.
The aim was to investigate whether the scope of inspections, methods, and assessment of results complied with the regulatory requirements.
During the audit, no regulatory non-conformities were identified.
The two improvement points found were in regards to analyses of the consequences of waves hitting the deck and traceability of history from design phase to operational phase.
The PSA has told Statoil to report on how these improvement points would be assessed by April 15, 2017.
The Åsgard field was under the spotlight earlier this month after 25 tons of natural gas leaked from the field . The incident prompted an investigation by both Statoil and the PSA.
Åsgard B had an incident of its own in September 2016 when a small fire in the pump broke out but was put out quickly with no harm to the personnel.