The Petroleum Safety Authority Norway announces well control incidents and the contractors' role

Tuesday, Dec 04, 2012

The Petroleum Safety Authority Norway (PSA) summoned shipowners, drilling contractors and drilling service contractors to a joint meeting on Wednesday last week. The topic was the responsibilities and roles of the contractors in connection with risk of well control incidents on the Norwegian shelf.

The purpose of the meeting was to discuss roles and responsibilities where the contractors can also contribute to reduce the risk of major accidents, especially as regards well control incidents.

More than 100 representatives from various companies participated.

Well control incidents study

Well control incidents are a key contributor to major accident risk in the Norwegian petroleum activities. The Montara accident off Australia in 2009, the Deepwater Horizon accident in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 and the Elgin blowout on the UK shelf in 2012 have also provided reminders for the petroleum industry of the risk potential of well control incidents.

The PSA therefore commissioned a study carried out of key human, technical and organisational causes and measures in connection with well control incidents on the Norwegian shelf, as part of the work on the annual report Risk level in the Norwegian petroleum activities (RNNP 2011).

The purpose of the meeting was to review findings from the study and to discuss challenges that are particularly relevant for drilling contractors and well service companies, in their interface towards the operating companies. It was therefore important to gather key technical experts, decision-makers and the safety delegate service to exchange experiences and establish joint initiatives to reduce the number of well control incidents on the Norwegian shelf.

Source: The Petroleum Safety Authority

To access over 3,000 of the latest oil projects from across the world visit Projects OGP for free trial today