We have carried out an audit of ExxonMobil's management of emergency preparedness at Ringhorne. The audit took place onboard the facility from 3 to 5 January 2017. Ahead of this, interviews were conducted with management in the onshore organisation, and a follow-up meeting was held at ExxonMobil's premises on 3 February 2017.
Objective
The petroleum industry is undergoing reorganisation in order to adapt activities to altered framework conditions. In this audit, we focused attention in particular on how the operating company assesses risk individually and in combination in advance of decisions, and on how the measures adopted safeguard robust emergency preparedness in both the short and long terms.
Result
The audit detected a non-conformity relating to the robustness of the organisation of emergency preparedness management out on the facility.
We also commented on an issue concerning the siting of the fire station's cabinet for search and rescue teams.
We have given ExxonMobil a deadline of 8 May 2017 to report on how the non-conformity will be dealt with and how the comment will be assessed.
Balder/Ringhorne
Balder is a field in the central part of the North Sea, just west of the Grane field. The water depth in the area is 125 metres. Balder was discovered in 1967, and the initial plan for development and operation (PDO) was approved in 1996. Production started in 1999. The field has been developed with subsea wells tied-back to the Balder production, storage and offloading vessel (FPSO).
The Ringhorne deposit, located nine kilometres north of the Balder FPSO, is included in the Balder complex. Ringhorne is developed with a combined accommodation, drilling and wellhead facility, tied-back to the Balder FPSO and Jotun FPSO for processing, crude oil storage and gas export.
A revised PDO for Balder and Ringhorne was approved in June 2020. The development plan includes lifetime extension and relocation of the Jotun FPSO, and drilling of new subsea wells.
Source: norskpetroleum.no