Oil giant Marathon has been warned by the Health and Safety Executive following a gas leak on one of its North Sea platforms.
Last night the company confirmed that it had been served with an improvement notice by inspectors after an incident on the Brae A.
According to the HSE, the company did not have proper measures in place to detect a leak of flammable gas on part of the structure.
As a result, a “significant quantity” of flammable hydrocarbon gas leaked from corroded pipework on October 17 last year.
Inspectors have given the company until April 15 to fix the problem or face further sanctions – but last night Marathon said it was confident it would meet the demands.
“Protecting our workforce and the environment in which we operate is Marathon’s main priority,” a statement said.
“We confirm that we received an improvement notice in November 2010 from the HSE relating to a pinhole leak of 11.5kg (25lbs) natural gas liquids.
“At ambient pressure and temperature the liquid becomes a gas. The release occurred in an external, exposed location of the platform and the gas dispersed naturally.
“Personnel took immediate corrective action. The equipment was isolated to allow an effective means of stopping the leak. All work in that area was brought to a halt.
“Marathon is committed to identifying areas for improvement and prior to receiving the improvement notice, work had already been initiated in the areas identified by HSE for action.
“The improvement notice actions will be completed by the April 2011 compliance date.”
In December, the HSE voiced fears about corrosion on walkways, pipes and valves following a number of inspections over the past three years.
HSE’s offshore head Steve Walker praised companies for their continuing efforts to prevent a major incident – but said more needed to be done to protect the “day-to-day” safety of workers.
“The management of external corrosion to safety-related plant and equipment offshore must not become the poor relation,” he said.
The HSE and the UK Government recently launched a major clampdown on offshore safety following BP’s Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
Energy Secretary Chris Huhne said the number of environmental checks on oil and gas platforms would rise from 80 to 150 this year.
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