The Petroleum Safety Authority of Norway (PSA) has given orders to Statoil to make improvements at the Gudrun platform in the North Sea, following an investigation of one of the largest hydrocarbon leaks on the Norwegian Continental Shelf that occurred more than a year ago.
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Image from Statoil. |
According to the PSA, the investigation identified serious breaches of the regulations.
“The proximate cause of the incident was a leak from a rupture in a 2in pipe in the bypass line directly downstream of the first-stage separator. The initial leak rate was estimated by Statoil at 8 kg/s. Condensate from the first-stage separator leaked to the open air,” the PSA said.
The high-pressure, high-temperature Gudrun field is located approximately 55km north of Sleipner, in production license 025. The pressure in the reservoir is about 860 bar, with 150°C temperatures. The platform was designed with 42 cabins. Gudrun is estimated to contain 184 MMboe recoverable reserves, and came on stream in April 2014.
The investigation revealed that the total emission/discharge is estimated at 4 cu m (2800kg) of condensate, and more than 1 cu m is estimated to have been discharged into the North Sea.
“The leak on Gudrun is regarded as one of the larger hydrocarbon escapes recorded on the Norwegian Continental Shelf over the past decade,” the safety agency said. “Under marginally different circumstances, the incident could have resulted in a major accident with loss of life, substantial material damage and impacts on the marine environment.”
The PSA launched its investigation on 19 February 2015, one day after the incident occurred.
After the leak, production was shut-in, and the recently installed field facilities depressurized.
At the time of the incident, about 26 people were on board the facility, with some 97 people onboard the nearby West Epsilon jackup.
Statoil is the operator of Gudrun field with a 51% interest. Partners include GDF Suez E&P Norge (25%) and OMV Norge (24%).
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