Petroleum Safety Authority of Norway (PSA) announced that has launched an investigation of the gas leak on the Statoil’s Åsgard field in the Norwegian Sea, on 10 March 2017. The incident occurred during preparations for a well operation with the Deepsea Bergen mobile drilling unit.
PSA states that gas reportedly escaped from the seabed manifold to the sea and, according to information from Statoil, the leak lasted for 20 minutes. While gas was observed on the sea surface, it was not detected on Deepsea Bergen.
The subsea gas compression project is of innovative technology, at a depth of 300 metres, that is expected to create more than 300 million extra barrels BOE from the Åsgard field.
The aims of the PSA’s investigation include clarifying the course of events and identifying direct and underlying causes in order to contribute to lessons learnt and experience transfer. Particular attention will be paid to the planning for and risk assessment of the operation. PSA announced that is about to release an investigation report on the incident’s details.
Source: PSA
