Background and objective

Lundin Norway AS (Lundin) is the operator for production licence 492, in the Barents Sea, around 185 kilometres north-west of Hammerfest. 

Lundin has previously received consent to drill exploration well 7120/1-5 in a prospect named Gotha. The well will be drilled by the Leiv Eiriksson mobile drilling facility.

On 15 and 16 February 2017, we carried out an audit of Lundin, focused on the company's plans to deploy MPD using the Controlled Mud Level (CML) method. This is a relatively new method, even on the international scale. This drilling method involves the use of temporary and heavy equipment. The altered operational procedures ensuing from this requirement entail customised, robust risk assessments.

The audit also covered how Lundin is involving the drilling contractor Ocean Rig and service provider Enhanced Drilling. 

Result

No regulatory non-conformities were identified during the audit.

However, improvement points were detected relating to:

  • Information about the new drilling method in the application for consent
  • Information about the method in the well-control manual
  • Manual shutoff valve in the drilling fluid return pipe

Lundin has been asked to respond by 6 April 2017 concerning how the improvement points will be assessed.