Barrier management

The major accident of 6 July 1988, when Britain’s Piper Alpha facility caught fire and exploded, remains one of the worst imaginable scenarios for everyone working in and with the petroleum industry. Its lessons are still relevant.

Norway’s oil history is not only about big structures and engineering skills, but also about the creation of a safety regime – about regulations and accidents, audits and triumphs, the Norwegian model, and trust and responsibility.

Ekofisk was the first producing field on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS). It has played a central role in Norway’s oil history over the past 50 years, and is also a miniature version of that history. The discovery of this field initiated a development phase without parallel, and has made its mark since then on virtually every aspect of Norwegian society.

The Alexander L Kielland disaster proved extremely important for safety progress on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS) in terms of regulation, supervision and allocation of responsibility between government agencies.

A major accident is the most-feared scenario. The biggest in Norway’s oil history happened on 27 March 1980, when Alexander L Kielland capsized in the North Sea with the loss of 123 lives.