Total's Martin Linge development has been delayed a year following an investigation into a fatal accident at the Samsung Heavy Industries' yard in South Korea.
On 1 May, six people were killed and more injured after a crane fell down on the Martin Linge wellhead bay module.
Total, which also has ongoing work on its Nigerian Egina project at the yard, suspended work on Martin Linge until 1 June following the accident, in order to identify the cause or causes.
The halt to work has meant sailaway of the Martin Linge modules will delayed, pushing the planned lifting operations offshore Norway from this summer to summer 2018. Hook up and commissioning operations and production start-up have been postponed to 1H 2019.
Work on Egina was suspended for two-weeks, but the impact on the project, which is expected to start up in 2H 2018 will be limited, says Total.
The Martin Linge field, a complex, high-pressure field, was discovered in 1975, about 42km from the Oseberg field and about 180km west of Bergen. It is estimated to contain about 190 MMboe. The field development involves an integrated wellhead production and accommodation platform on a jacket, with power from shore using what will be the world's longest subsea high voltage AC power cable, with a floating storage unit.
The Egina development is located on deep offshore Block OML 130 about 150km off the Nigerian coast. Project partners are Total (24% Operator), CNOOC (45%), Petrobras (16%) and Sapetro (15%).
Today (6 July), Total said: "We are deeply saddened by the accident that occurred at the yard on May 1st. Our thoughts are first and foremost with the families and colleagues of the victims who lost their lives or suffered injuries. Total has dispatched its experts to join the ongoing investigation to identify the fundamental causes of the accident and implement the necessary preventive measures to avoid any reoccurrence of such accidents. All works at the yard were suspended for several days in order to give absolute priority to the investigation, provide psychological support to the workers and review lessons learned before restarting activities,” said Arnaud Breuillac, President, Exploration & Production at Total.
News of the 1 May incident broke just days after Norway's Petroleum Safety Authority (PSA) had issued Total E&P Norge with an order, following an audit of the Martin Linge project, including work at the Samsung yard. The PSA had said that "serious deficiencies had emerged... relating to such areas as preservation, electrical facilities and barrier management." The report also indicated concern over the lack of state of completion of the modules, given how close sailaway was due. It said there was “parallel and unconnected activities on modules going on at the same time.”
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