Activity levels in the petroleum industry remained high in 2025, and the industry is planning for significant activity levels for many years to come. A series of large and small projects are currently in the planning, implementation or completion phases, and involve new subsea installations, major modifications, decommissioning projects and more. New wells will be drilled and old ones plugged.
Taking new and old together, we have a comprehensive infrastructure offshore and onshore that is designed to last for many years and sustain a high level of integrity and reliability. This requires proper upkeep through continuous maintenance and effective preventive safety work, to avoid harm to people and damage to the environment and to material assets, and ensure that energy can be supplied to Europe with a high degree of reliability.
Havtil has core responsibilities in the fields of public safety and security, with the threat scenario for the petroleum industry characterised by the risk of malicious acts, both physical and digital. We view our responsibilities as interconnected; preventive measures in the areas of security, safety and the working environment are all interrelated.
We are also active in our new areas of responsibility: offshore renewable energy production, seabed minerals and CO2 transport and storage. From our perspective, at present this mainly concerns developing regulations, building expertise and following up on initiatives that the industry has already launched.
A complex risk landscape
In terms of results, we see a mixed picture for the petroleum sector in 2025. A great deal of good, systematic work is being undertaken in the areas of safety, the working environment and security. At the industry level, our RNNP Trends report shows good results over time, but the results also reveal clear areas for improvement.
In our audits, we also observe regulatory breaches, serious incidents and conditions that give cause for concern. In September, one person died during a lifting operation at Equinor’s facility at Mongstad. Havtil is investigating this tragic accident. We are also investigating other serious incidents that occurred in 2025, including an acute spill, a fall, chemical exposure, well control issues, a personal injury sustained during a lifting operation, and the loss of gangway functionality on a vessel.
In 2025, there were also instances of high levels of exposure to chemicals. We have reacted by issuing a stop order and filing a police report.
Contractors’ employees at certain facilities may be in particularly vulnerable work situations, and we are closely monitoring the parties involved.
We are all deeply affected when serious incidents occur, especially when people are injured or lose their lives in accidents at offshore or onshore facilities. When it happens, we need to draw lessons to prevent any recurrence.
In 2025, Havtil issued many orders, more than it had for many years. The orders relate to working environment conditions, security and technical factors, both offshore and onshore. This high number sends a clear signal; things are not good enough, the industry must step up its efforts on safety, security and the working environment, and Havtil will take firm action when necessary.
Artificial intelligence is also a risk factor
Each year, we highlight a theme and a key issue that we ask company management to focus on in particular. The main theme for 2025 was Artificial intelligence is also a risk factor.
In the energy sector, artificial intelligence (AI) is being increasingly incorporated into the technology, including within safety-related operations. AI-based solutions represent a key resource and can help reduce risk. But AI can also do the opposite – contributing to increased risk. Industries subject to major accident risks are particularly vulnerable.
The challenge is to view AI from a holistic perspective. In developing AI solutions, the interplay between people, technology and the organisation must form the basis for safe use and maintenance. At the same time, we must prevent AI from making us more vulnerable to external threats and malicious acts.
In 2025, we emphasised that the responsible use of AI is a shared concern for all stakeholders in the industry. The topic has been covered in Dialog, our own magazine, and has led to fruitful discussions both in the Safety Forum and in other contexts. We are seeing the industry mature in terms of the responsible use of AI, but this is, of course, an issue that will remain relevant for a long time to come.
25 years of the Safety Forum
The Safety Forum was established in 2000 as a platform for tripartite collaboration between the authorities, employer organisations and employee organisations within Havtil’s jurisdiction. The Safety Forum’s mandate is to serve as a driving force for ensuring that the ocean industries are at the leading edge in managing major accident and working environment risk and security.
The Safety Forum is actively used as a platform for the mutual exchange of knowledge and information, and for identifying new challenges and trends at industry level. The Safety Forum’s annual conference is an important meeting place for the stakeholders. In 2025, the conference addressed collaboration on a number of areas, ranging from critical infrastructure to the psychosocial working environment.
Multipartite collaboration also takes place in the Regulatory Forumand in other arenas. In 2025, the Ministry of Energy established a multi-stakeholder group tasked with developing a consensus-based assessment of safety and the working environment in the ocean industries on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. The group is scheduled to submit its report in the first half of 2026.
A key source of information for a shared situational awareness is the Trends in risk level in the petroleum activity (RNNP) report. RNNP is an important tool for establishing a common picture of the trends in conditions that affect risk in the industry. The RNNP report for 2025 indicates that safety levels in the petroleum industry are stable and remain high. At onshore facilities, indicators related to incidents with the potential to cause major accidents are at their lowest recorded level. Nevertheless, there are still challenges that need to be addressed.
Havtil's Annual Report is available in Norwegian only (link below).