Statoil is the operator of Valemon, which is a gas and condensate field in blocks 34/11 and 34/10 in the northern North Sea. The field lies west of the Kvitebjørn field, around 160 kilometres west-north-west of Bergen. Water depth at the site is 135 metres.
Over time, Statoil is planning for the production facility on the field to be manned for two weeks and unmanned for four weeks. The facility will then be controlled from an onshore control room. When the facility is manned, the control room at Valemon will also be manned.
The PSA has had a number of meetings with Statoil concerning the choice of control room solution. The audit carried out on 20 May 2015 was a follow-up to these meetings.
The purpose of the audit was to verify that the solution chosen by Statoil was being implemented prudently and in compliance with the regulations.
The audit was conducted at Statoil's premises at Sandsli in the form of presentations and interviews, and covered topics including:
- The need for manning for maintenance
- Manning of the control rooms
- Emergency preparedness management
- Use of CCTV
- Employee participation
- Working environment and human factors
The PSA is of the opinion that Statoil has a systematic approach to the challenges associated with moving the control function onshore.