The group’s most extensive safety check ever has been carried out at all of Statoil installations. The results show that the overall status is good, but that there is also a need for improvement.
The surveys were implemented on Statoil’s own initiative and took place over an 18-month period at the group’s most important land-based and offshore installations in Norway and in other countries.
“The objective of the review was to raise the level of safety in Statoil and further reduce the potential for major incidents,” says Geir Pettersen, vice president for safety .
The project has checked a total of 30,000 control points in the safety systems. The status of the technical safety barriers, which are integrated in the systems, is generally satisfactory, according to the report. In some places the barriers are deficient, but none of the findings are so critical as to require an immediate stoppage and improvement. About 85 per cent of the systems have passed the inspection.
“The follow-up of this review will be given the highest priority," says Henrik Carlsen, executive vice president for Exploration & Production Norway. "Conditions that don’t comply with the group’s requirements are currently being rectified.”
Magne Ognedal, head of safety in the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD), believes that Statoil has carried out a mammoth task in gaining an overview of the technical status.
“The NPD will follow up this pioneering work and apply the knowledge and insight to the rest of the oil industry,” says Mr Ognedal and adds that it is crucial for the companies to ensure that safety is maintained at all times.