The Statfjord field is in the Tampen area, in the northern part of the North Sea. Statfjord A is an integrated drilling, production and accommodation facility and is the oldest of the three integrated facilities on the field. It came on stream in 1979.

The Petroleum Safety Authority Norway carried out its audit of Statfjord A from 19 to 22 August 2014. Meetings were also held in Statoil's premises at  Forus on 28 and 29 August 2014. The topics of the audit were electrical installations, safety instrumented systems and technical safety.

The audit was anchored in the PSA's key priority for 2014 of barriers. The purpose of the audit was to investigate whether Statoil's management and follow-up of Statfjord A is in compliance with the company's own requirements and those of the authorities. The audit also covered checking whether the frameworks in which the organisation and operating personnel work provide scope for meeting the requirements.

The audit revealed non-conformities relating to:

  • Activities which weaken the safety system
  • Classified areas without gas detection
  • Use of the Norwegian language

Improvement points were identified relating to:

  • Assumptions in the risk analysis
  • Labelling of equipment
  • Insulating mats in front of electrical panels
  • Fire insulation
  • Maintenance of deluge systems

Non-conformity:

Entails that a condition is assessed as not complying with a regulatory requirement.

Improvement point:

Entails that we have identified a deficiency or weakness, without there being sufficient grounds for determining a breach of regulatory requirements.