Hydro has decided to remove a deflector plate from the flare system on the Troll C platform in the North Sea, in the light of findings that have emerged following an incident on the Visund platform earlier this year. Oil and gas production on Troll C is due to be shut down for around 72 hours from Thursday 16 March.
On the basis of reports investigating the incident on the Visund platform earlier this year, and following verification of Hydro's equivalent installations, it has been decided that the deflector plate resembling the one that caused the incident on Visund should be removed.
In order to carry out the work, the platform's production must be stopped for around 72 hours.
Hydro has carried out technical analyses of equivalent installations on the platforms Oseberg South and Njord, without finding anything which makes corrective maintenance of these installations necessary at the current time.
The relevant part of the flare system on these platforms has a different design to that of Troll C.
The Troll C platform usually produces around 130,000 barrels of oil per 24 hour period, and 12 million cubic metres of gas.
The oil is transported to Mongstad for shipment, while the gas is freighted to the Troll A platform, from where it is transported to Kollsnes.