Serious violations on an oil rig for the company Borten Moe – VG

The Draugen oil platform has several wells with defective or weakened barriers, but has not submitted plans for repairs, writes the Norwegian Oil Safety Authority in a recent report.

They believe the discrepancies are serious.

The operator Okea has received three specific orders from the audit. Before December 1, the company must document how they are to be rectified and the work must be completed before March 1, 2021.

The deputy leader of the Center Party and former Minister of Oil and Energy Ola Borten Moe was one of the four founders of the oil company in 2015. In 2018, Okea took over the Draugen platform from Shell.

The deputy director of SP remains a co-owner of the company, which has taken the first letter of the company name from his first name.

– I have no role in this. I have been a trainee on the platform for the last year. The wells to which this applies were closed this spring, Ola Borten Moe tells VG.

Borten Moe claims that he will take over as one of the three platform administrators in two weeks.

– I should refer to our onshore operational organization for more information, he adds.

Okea: Confirm the order

Okea COO Tor Bjerkestrand tells VG that the company has a plan to correct the discrepancies that have been pointed out in the audit.

In a press release on the company’s website, Okea confirms that the company must investigate, ensure quality and update the status of 22 wells in the Draugen field.

– Two of the wells have been closed and significant work has been done on one of them now in 2020. We take orders very seriously and will correct discrepancies within the deadline, says Bjerkestrand.

Bellona leader Frederic Hauge demands that Okea be forced to shut down the Draugen oil platform.

– These deviations are so serious that the platform must be closed immediately, to avoid a major accident, says Hauge, who has sent a letter to the Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Henrik Asheim with this demand.

Bellona-Hauge says there is no argument that the wells in question were closed this spring.

– Wells that were closed have not been closed satisfactorily in accordance with existing requirements.

The discrepancies are very serious, he believes.

– Several wells are not sufficiently secured to prevent blowouts. And one of these wells has been producing without an emergency shutdown feature since 2017. The proportion in the audit covers 21 of the 22 wells, several of which are bypassed, are still in production, Hauge says.

Okea introduces himself with Bellona’s statements:

– We do not want to comment on Bellona’s criticism. We interact with the Norwegian Petroleum Safety Authority and have a good dialogue with them, Ståle Myhre, director of investor relations at Okea, tells VG.

– To prevent leaks

– We trust that Okea, as a responsible operator, uses the available documentation and takes responsibility if it is necessary to close individual wells or parts of the business, Øyvind Midttun, press contact of the Norwegian Petroleum Safety Authority, tells VG.

– The company is responsible for security. They must have a detailed control of their business. It may well be that the documentation of these barriers is available in the company. But they have to present it to the authorities.

Wells must be airtight to prevent oil or gas leaks. Thus, wells have different types of barriers, such as pipes, valves, joints, and cement. There should always be at least two barriers in place, says Midttun.

– It is the responsibility of Okea as operator. They must operate safely and in accordance with regulations, they must be able to document the condition of the wells and know if the barriers in the wells, which are to prevent leaks, are good enough.

– Looking where we think we find faults

The Norwegian Petroleum Safety Authority writes that “the findings are serious, and our observations show that Okea has not taken sufficient responsibility for monitoring and managing the well integrity during the operational phase, and that the company has largely based on subsequent operations without up-to-date quality assurance and verification of the technical characteristics of the wells. state”.

There has been oil production in the Draugen field for 27 years.

– We look at where we think we find flaws and where we think our efforts are most important. In this case, it has been important to look at Okea and Draugen. They are a relatively new operator, Draugen is an old field. There are challenges with the old fields and with a change of operator, says Midttun.

– Powerful tool

– How serious is this?

– An order, which we now announce, is a powerful tool on the part of the authorities. We want to make sure Okea takes action, that they structure the information and get good documentation, says Midttun at the Norwegian Petroleum Safety Authority.

You won’t go into what will happen if Okea doesn’t provide documentation that everything is in order.

– I do not want to speculate, I have no reason to believe that they will not respond well to this.