Tag: Barents Sea

PSA Norway conducted an audit of design engineering and verification of sea ice loads on the Johan Castberg facility, on 24 and 25 May 2018. The audit did not find any non-conformities , but it found some points that need to be improved. The audit aimed to make sure that the design engineering and related verification of ice loads on the hull complied with the regulations. 

Equinor, former Statoil, was granted five licences and will take part as a non-operating participant in two more. In addition, Shell, Aker BP, Lundin, OMV and Spirit Energy, also received license for operations. Moreover, DEA, Idemitsu, M Vest Energy, VNG and Wintershall were awarded participating interest.

The Norwegian Parliament approved the plan for development and operation of the Johan Castberg field in the Barents Sea, on Monday 11 June. The plan will now be submitted to the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy for formal approval. The field will be operated by Equinor, and its first oil scheduled for 2022.

In the People vs. Arctic oil climate lawsuit, the Norwegian State was sued for violating the Norwegian Constitution’s environmental Article number 112 for opening up a vast new area for oil and gas drilling in the Norwegian Arctic. Greenpeace and Nature and Youth will challenge the judgement by taking the legal battle directly to the Supreme Court.

The Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy announced offering of 75 production licenses on the Norwegian continental shelf in the Award in Pre-Defined Areas 2017 licensing round, the highest ever awarded in a licensing round in the area. The licenses are distributed over the North Sea, Norwegian Sea and Barents Sea.

Namely, Greenpeace and Nature and Youth sued the Norwegian government, saying that its acts are unconstitutional and do not comply with the Paris Agreement, in which Norway participates. Greenpeace will now decide whether or not to appeal the court's decision.

DNV GL says that new challenges in the Barents Sea accompany the harsher, darker and most of all, colder operational conditions, requiring adaption of new technology and all time high expectations for safe and sustainable operations.

  As offshore field developments in the North and Norwegian Seas face maturity, operators on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS) are looking to the more remote areas of the Barents Sea for further development. Here harsher environmental conditions, prolonged periods of darkness and long distances to shore make evacuation and rescue of personnel on Arctic offshore installations more challenging. A new DNV GL report published examines the feasibility of emergency preparedness solutions and calls for the industry to collaborate on new response concepts. DNV GL’s report ‘Emergency response for offshore operationsin the Barents Sea’,examines the affect of wind speed, wave height and the presence of sea ice on the availability of evacuation and rescue resources in the Barents Sea and analyses the long-range rescue capability provided by search and rescue helicopters. Key challenges for offshore installations in Arctic waters include: sea spray icing, darkness, lack of offshore infrastructure and long distances between installations and support sites, sea ice, low temperatures and wind chill.  “Many questions about emergency response in the North have remained unanswered. We aim to help close that gap with this research. Our findings indicate that new emergency response concepts and technologies might be needed in more remote ...

Stril Barents, a state of the art supply and standby vessel is ready to start operations at the Goliat field in the Barents Sea. The vessel commissioned by Eni Norge will strengthen oil spill and search and rescue contingency operations at the field location.  Goliat will enter into production this summer as the first oil field to come on stream in the Barents Sea. Eni Norge and Norwegian authorities have stipulated strict oil spill contingency requirements for Goliat.   Double functionStril Barents is designed and built to operate both as a supply and stand-by vessel at the Goliat location. Under normal circumstances the vessel will operate mainly as a supply vessel. It will also be able to replace Goliat's current standby vessel, Esvagt Aurora, and will provide the first response both in case of emergency life-saving intervention and oil spill situations. This double function makes the vessel unique on the Norwegian shelf. Tailored to Arctic operations The vessel is specially adapted to the challenges presented by harsh Arctic weather conditions. It is equipped with heating cables to prevent icing, and most of its auxiliary equipment, including the lifeboats and life rafts, is built into the vessel in order to protect it ...