Safety and security must be the top priority for protecting stable Norwegian gas deliveries, Anne Myhrvold, director general of the Petroleum Safety Authority Norway (PSA) told the Safety – Status and Signals meeting on 6 January.
Ms. Myhrvold used the occasion to call for even tighter collaboration in turbulent times. Much attention was naturally devoted to the geopolitical position when the PSA drew up the safety status for the industry in 2022 and presented its supervisory plans and expectations for 2023.
Myhrvold pointed to the key role played by the PSA, by virtue of its overall expertise about the Norwegian oil and gas sector, in the demanding conditions currently confronting Norway and Europe.
Specifically, she highlighted the existing good collaboration at government level, and praised the companies for having handled the position well. At the same time, she noted that the industry faces major and demanding challenges at a time characterised by unpredictability.
If we’re to succeed, all the parties must work collectively and concurrently
Main issue
Myhrvold further pointed out that the security policy position would also make its mark on 2023, which is why the PSA has selected “for safe and stable energy development – collectively and concurrently” as its main issue for the year.
“You must work preventively, maintenance must be prioritised, barriers must function. Major accidents must be prevented. At the same time, you must handle new risks such as drones while taking care of the integrated risk picture – individually and collectively
She also emphasised the need for good information flow, and maintained that what could be shared must be shared in order to help reduce insecurity.
In addition, Finn Carlsen, the PSA’s director of professional competence, also highlighted the position in Europe during his presentation. “The threat level has changed for a long time to come. That’s something the industry and the government must accept and adapt their measures to.”
Furthermore, he noted that it is now important to think holistically about the risk picture, and highlighted the importance of preventing incidents while having sufficient capacity and competence to deal with undesirable conditions.
Major changes
Capacity and competence were also the theme of the presentation from Bjørn Thomas Bache, the PSA’s director of supervisory activities. He noted that findings from PSA audits reveal challenges in the industry with regard to enhancing efficiency, restructuring and introducing new technology.
We see that the companies lack sufficient capacity and competence, and introduce new technology before it has been adequately tested
