Norwegian offshore safety body, the Petroleum Safety Authority (PSA), has found a non-conformity and several improvement points during an audit of Draupner S and E platforms off Norway.
The Draupner S and Draupner E platforms are part of the gas transport pipeline network on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. The platforms are in block 16/11 in the North Sea, and are linked by a bridge.
The Draupner S platform was put into service in April 1985, as part of the Statpipe system, while the Draupner E platform was installed in 1994 as part of the Europipe 1 pipeline from the Sleipner field to Emden in Germany.
The platforms connect pipelines from the Kårstø plant, Heimdal field, Sleipner field, and Kollsnes plant and supply gas through the Norpipe, Europipe 1, and Franpipe pipelines.
Gassco is the operator of the platforms and Statoil is the technical services provider.
The PSA said on Monday that the audit was carried out from February 20 to March 5, 2018.
According to the safety watchdog, the objective of the audit was to verify that the operator Gassco and the technical service provider Statoil were ensuring safe operation of the processing platform at Draupner, including the associated transport system.
Among other things, the PSA verified the management of maintenance and how barriers were provided for in operations.
Another aspect of the audit was the allocation of responsibilities and work tasks between Gassco and Statoil.
During the audit, the safety body found one non-conformity regarding process safety. The PSA also identified six improvement points concerning fire protection, ruptures in the event of fire, weaknesses in the plant, control and monitoring system, nitrogen flushing of the flare system, and pressure relief.
The agency told Gassco to report on how the non-conformity and improvement points will be addressed by June 1, 2018, at the latest.