Norwegian oil company Statoil has received consent from the Petroleum Safety Authority (PSA) to remove the emergency response vessel at Snorre A platform, offshore Norway.
The Snorre field lies in the Tampen area in the northern sector of the North Sea. The field has been developed using two facilities, Snorre A, in the south of the field, and Snorre B, in the north.
Snorre A is a floating tension leg platform (TLP) for accommodation, drilling and processing. The facility began producing in 1992.
Partly stabilized oil and gas from Snorre A is piped to the nearby Statfjord A platform for final processing. The oil is then loaded into shuttle tankers, while the gas is transported on to continental Europe through the Statpipe system and to St Fergus, Scotland through the Tampen link.
To date, Snorre A has had its own emergency response vessel for fire fighting and the vessel has also contributed to MOB (man over board) response.
According to the safety agency, Statoil has now applied for consent to remove the emergency response vessel at Snorre A. The company has an established area emergency response scheme in the Tampen area, of which the Snorre field is a part. The scheme is based on an SAR helicopter and an area response vessel. Area response will not be affected by the removal of Snorre A’s vessel, the agency said.
The PSA stated that the implementation of passive fire protection and establishment of a redundant MOB boat system at Snorre A are seen as compensatory measures for the removal. The regulator has now granted Statoil consent for the removal.
Recently, another oil major received consent to remove the emergency response vessel from the Knarr field , offshore Norway.