Statoil has completed its internal investigation on a fire at the Statfjord A platform on 16 October, an incident that was part of a string of hazardous events, leading the Norwegian giant on a safety mission.
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Image of damage from the fire at Statfjord A, from Statoil. |
According to Statoil’s investigation, a small fire occurred in the seal oil in the loading pump transferring oil from the platform to the tanker. When the stop signal to the pump was activated, it led to fatigue fracture on the shaft inside the switch chamber where the power is connected/disconnected. The fire was extinguished by the sprinkler system.
The fire, which occurred at 8:20 a.m. local time, was out by 11 a.m. About 20 of the 67 staff on board were moved to the nearby Statfjord B facility by helicopter during the incident and production on Statfjord A shut-in.
“The investigation report states that the risk of escalation was small, and concludes that the incident did not involve a major-accident potential. There was furthermore no potential for personal injury related to the incident, however, it gives us valuable learning that we will apply in our work to prevent recurrence and strengthen safety on our installations,” Øystein Arvid Håland, Statoil VP for safety and sustainability of development and production Norway said.
The Norwegian part of the Statfjord field is in Blocks 33/9 and 33/12 in license 037. It is one of the oldest producing fields on the Norwegian continental shelf, and the largest oil discovery in the North Sea. It is expected to continue producing until at least 2025.
The field has been developed with the Statfjord A, B and C production platforms. Statfjord A is a production platform that has a concrete substructure and storage cells. It began production on 24 November 1979. Statfjord B followed on 5 November 1982, and Statfjord C on 26 June 1985.
The Statfjord A incident is also being investigated by Norway’s Petroleum Safety Authority (PSA) and the police. The following day of the Statfjord fire, the PSA flew out its own investigation team to the platform to investigate.
Statoil’s investigation efforts also involved another incident that occurred the same week on 12 October at the onshore Sture terminal outside Bergen, which injured five people.
“The serious incidents that occurred this autumn are not satisfactory. It is imperative for us to carefully look into all aspects of the incidents to ensure that learning helps improve safety. The investigation reports will be systematically followed up with specific measures to further strengthen our safety work,” Jannicke Nilsson, Statoil executive VP and COO said.
“Several incidents,” Statoil said, which occurred this autumn, called for the company to find out whether there are any connections between the incidents and Statoil’s improvement programs.
“The two completed investigations do not prove any connections between our improvement work and the incidents. Nevertheless, we take signals of a demanding work situation due to many ongoing efficiency initiatives seriously. We evaluate this thoroughly, and follow up to ensure that the company’s improvement work strengthens both safe and efficient operation,” Nilsson said.
Other incidents that occurred this autumn are still under investigation. In order to follow up the incidents Statoil has initiated actions to expand and improve the company’s safety effort, with particular focus on safety management, learning and collaboration, both across the organization and in relation to suppliers and collaboration partners, the company said.
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