An AoC is an acknowledgement from the Petroleum Safety Authority Norway (PSA) to the effect that a mobile facility's technical condition and the applicant's organisation and management system are assessed to be in conformity with relevant requirements of Norwegian shelf rules.
Mandatory AoC
Securing an acknowledgement of compliance (AoC) is essential if a mobile drilling rig is to work in the petroleum activity on the Norwegian continental shelf, and is mandatory for the following units which are registered in a national register of shipping:
drilling rigs, accommodation units (flotels), floating production, storage and offloading units, floating drilling, production, storage and offloading units, and well intervention vessels which are to conduct petroleum operations on the NCS.
An applicant may be the owner of a mobile facility or another party who is in charge of day-to-day operation of such a facility when the latter participates in petroleum activities subject to Norwegian shelf jurisdiction.
Basis for documentation
An AoC could be of significance as a basis for documentation in connection with subsequent consideration by the authorities, particularly in connection with the facility-specific part of an application for consent.
An AoC may be applied for in connection with a concrete application for consent for petroleum activities involving use of a mobile facility. It may then comprise two parts: one part which contains factors specific to locality and activity, and one part containing factors specific to the facility, i.e. technical condition, the applicant's organisation and management system.
An AoC may also be applied for on an independent basis.
An AoC will be given on the basis of the authorities' assessment of the condition of the facility, measured against the rules applying to the use of mobile facilities on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS) at the time of the AOC. For further details, see the regulations on the PSA website and the Handbook for application for AoC, report No. 065 of 1 July 2002.
Use of such a statement in connection with a subsequent application for consent for use must be viewed in light of any changes in the legislation, the facility's technical condition, and the applicant's organisation and management system since the statement was given.
An AoC encompasses technical conditions, relevant parts of the applicant's management system, analyses performed, maintenance programme and upgrading plans. The statement will be given based on the authority's follow-up of the applicant and the information that the applicant has provided about the facility and the organisational set-up.
An AoC in itself confers no right to initiate activities on the Norwegian shelf. The AoC may, however, form part of the documentation basis related to application for consent to petroleum activity on the NCS, cf. appendix 1 in the Orientation concerning the arrangement of regulatory supervision etc. in PSA's legislation relating to health, environment and safety.
The PSA will, in consultation with other authorities that we co-operate with in connection with AoC, in each individual case decide on the extent of necessary consideration. See the current agreement between the PSA and the Norwegian Maritime Directorate (in Norwegian only). For further information about the contents of applications, see the Guidelines for application for AoC etc. (the AoC Guidelines ).
AOC in connection with applications for consent
In connection with an application for consent for petroleum activities involving use of a mobile facility, the operator may make reference to the acknowledgement of compliance issued by the NPD for that facility. As regards facilities with no AoC prior to submitting an application for consent, one may apply for an AoC concurrently. The Guidelines for application for AoC etc. (the AoC Guidelines ) describe who may apply for an AoC, expand on the status given to an AoC and give guidance on how to structure the application for such a statement.
Mobile facilities with AoC
When applying for consents subsequent to having obtained an AoC, the rig owner himself may obtain exemptions directly from the PSA - as far as the requirements given as non-conformities in the AoC application, are concerned. Conditions and prerequisites of the exemptions appear from the appendices to the AoC.
The exemptions have been granted in respect of the mobile facility, and at the outset it will not be necessary to apply for a new exemption for the same circumstance in connection with an application for a new consent unless else follows from special conditions and prerequisites of the exemptions granted. See the Framework Regulations Section 59 with guidelines.
When applying for consent at a later stage, an overview shall be provided of previously granted exemptions according to the legislation relating to health, environment and safety, cf. the Regulations relating to material and information in the petroleum activities Section 6 litera f (the Information Duty Regulations ).
Mobile facilities that have submitted applications for AoC
When applying for consent subsequent to the rig owner having submitted an application for AoC, the operator may make reference to documentation already submitted. Prior to an AoC being given by the PSA, the operator is the main addressee for all correspondence and decisions related to the consideration of the consent.
Contact person in the PSA:
Kjell-Gunnar Dørum
E-mail: Kjell-Gunnar.Dorum@ptil.no
Phone: +47 51 87 61 97
