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A JOURNAL FROM THE NORWEGIAN OCEAN INDUSTRY AUTHORITY

Close to the sea, but separate

Photo of Kårstø Photo: Elisabeth Kjørmo
Kårstø is one of a total of seven onshore facilities that Havtil is responsible for.

Seven onshore plants are responsible for landing and handling petroleum in Norway. What they do and how Havtil monitors them are outlined here.

Havtil has regulatory responsibility for safety, the working environment, emergency preparedness and security in the petroleum industry offshore and on land.

Its authority to develop HSE regulations and ensures that companies operate responsibly was extended to the onshore facilities in 2004.

“Supervising these plants calls for a slightly different type of expertise from that required offshore,” says Kjell Arild Anfinsen, Havtil’s head of supervision for land. “That’s why we’ve had our own supervisory team for onshore facilities since we assumed regulatory responsibility for them.”

Although the land plants are directly linked to activities on the NCS, they differ from the offshore installations in several areas.

“First and foremost, they’re much larger,” explains Anfinsen, who has long experience in his role. “The onshore plants cover relatively large areas compared with the compact offshore facilities, and are also subject to special rules.”

Separate

“Many of the regulations are the same offshore and on land, but separate technical and operational provisions apply to the onshore facilities alone,” he explains.

In addition come the major accident regulations, which apply to land-based operations producing, using and/or storing toxic, environmentally harmful, inflammable or explosive chemicals.

“The aim of the regulations is to prevent major accidents involving hazardous chemicals and to reduce the impacts such incidents could have,” says Anfinsen. 

“Although offshore and onshore operations have their differences, which require us to adapt expertise and supervision accordingly, follow-up of both is broadly similar.

“Our supervisory activities will be system-orientated and risk-based, and must supplement rather than replace the industry's own follow-up. Participation by and cooperation between all the parties involved are fundamental.”

Annual major-accident audits are synchronised through the coordination group for the major accident regulations (KFS), where Havtil works with other regulatory agencies administering the relevant regulations.

These include the Norwegian Labour Inspection Authority, the Directorate for Civil Protection, the Norwegian Industrial Safety Organisation and the Norwegian Environment Agency.

Hammerfest LNG

Melkøya, Hammerfest local authority, Finnmark

Operator: Equinor

Hammerfest LNG lies on Melkøya, an island in Hammerfest local authority, and is the processing facility for the Snøhvit field in the Barents Sea. Handling gas production alone, its main product is liquefied natural gas (LNG).

The Snøhvit wellstream is transported to the plant for processing and shipping. CO2 gas is separated from the natural gas and returned to Snøhvit for injection.

Photo of Melkøya
Hammerfest LNG, Melkøya, Hammerfest Municipality, Finnmark. Equinor is the operator. Photo: Equinor/Øyvind Hagen

Tjeldbergodden

Kjørsvikbugen, Aure local authority, Møre og Romsdal

Operator: Equinor

Tjeldbergodden is located at Kjørsvikbugen in Aure local authority. Three plants were initially established – a reception facility for gas from the Heidrun field, a methanol plant and an air separation unit.

The first two of these currently constitute the main activity at the plant. Gas arriving at Tjeldbergodden through Haltenpipe yields 830 000 tonnes of methanol annually.

Photo of Tjeldbergodden
Tjeldbergodden, Kjørsvikbugen, Aure Municipality, Møre og Romsdal. Equinor is the operator. Photo: Equinor, Ole Jørgen Bratland

Nyhamna

Gossen, Aukra local authority, Møre og Romsdal

Operator: Gassco

Nyhamna is located at the northern end of Gossen island in Aukra local authority. This processing plant treats production from the Ormen Lange and Aasta Hansteen fields in the Norwegian Sea, exporting natural gas through the Langeled pipeline to a terminal at Easington in the UK.

Photo of Nyhamna
Nyhamna, Gossen, Aukra Municipality, Møre og Romsdal. Gassco is the operator. Photo: Norske Shell

Mongstad

Lindås, Alver and Austrheim local authorities, Vestland

Operator: Equinor

The Mongstad facility is located in Alver and Austrheim local authorities and differs from Norway’s other onshore plants in several ways – it is by far the largest, the only refinery and also a big oil terminal.

Crude oil pipelines from Troll B and C, Fram, Johan Sverdrup, Kvitebjørn, Valemon, Gjøa and Vega come ashore here. The plant also receives crude oil via shuttle tanker from such developments as Gullfaks, Statfjord, Draugen, Norne, Åsgard and Heidrun.

Mongstad’s oil refinery has an annual capacity of 10 million tonnes of crude, producing mainly petrol, diesel oil, jet fuel and other light petroleum products.

The complex also includes the receiving plant for Vestprosess, a pipeline and processing system for natural gas liquids (NGL) and condensate which connects with the terminals for crude oil at Sture and gas at Kollsnes.

Mongstad, Lindås, Alver, and Austrheim Municipalities, Vestland. Equinor is the operator. Photo: Equinor, Øyvind Hagen

Sture

Stura, Øygarden local authority, Vestland

Operator: Equinor

The Sture oil terminal, located in Øygarden local authority, receives oil and condensate via pipelines from Oseberg A and the Grane field. Crude is exported by ship, while wet gas and liquefied petroleum gases (LPG) are piped via Vestprosess to Mongstad for further processing.

Photo of Sture terminal
Sture, Stura, Øygarden Municipality, Vestland. Equinor is the operator. Photo: Equinor/Øyvind Hagen

Kollsnes

Ona, Øygarden local authority, Vestland

Operator: Gassco

Kollsnes is located on the west side of Ona island in Øygarden local authority and processes gas. Originally part of the Troll development, it is the landing point for pipelines from the Troll, Fram, Visund and Kvitebjørn fields.

Gas from Kollsnes travels through Statpipe, Zeepipe, Europipe I and Franpipe to continental Europe. The plant is linked to Sture and Mongstad via Vestprosess for the transport of wet gas and condensate.

Photo of Kollsnes terminal
Kollsnes, Ona, Øygarden Municipality, Vestland. Gassco is the operator. Photo: Equinor/Woldcam

Kårstø

Kårstø, Tysvær local authority, Rogaland

Operator: Gassco

Located in Tysvær local authority, Kårstø is responsible for landing and processing natural gas and condensate. It receives input from such fields as Statfjord, Gullfaks, Sleipner, Johan Sverdrup and Åsgard via the Statpipe, Åsgard Transport and Sleipner East condensate pipelines.

Around 30 fields are connected by pipeline to Kårstø, which ranks as the largest facility of its kind in Europe. Wet gas is separated and exported by ship, while dry gas (methane and ethane) travels through the Statpipe system to the Emden terminal in Germany.

Kårstø, Kårstø, Tysvær Municipality, Rogaland. Gassco is the operator. Photo: Equinoe/Markus Johansson

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