Jadestone Energy is accused of cutting safety measures on a platform in Australian waters – and a fire breaking out as a result.
The Offshore Alliance (OA) sent a formal complaint to National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority (NOPSEMA) three weeks ago. The OA went public on the weekend with its concerns on the Stag-A platform.
“Following maintenance in one of the main generator enclosures on the Stag platform, there was a very small fire on lagging after restart of the generator,” Jadestone told Energy Voice.
“The dedicated fire watch, who was placed at the enclosure, immediately extinguished the fire using a handheld CO2 fire extinguisher. The unit was shut down and the lagging doused with water as a further precaution.”
The OA claims a senior Jadestone manager ordered workers to start a generator despite insulation soaked with crude oil on the exhaust.
“During the generator testing, numerous safety devices appear to have been deliberately overridden by Jadestone, including heat detectors, flame detectors, and smoke detectors,” the OA said. No alarms went off because of the overridden sensors. Eventually a fire broke out.
Investigation
Jadestone attempted “to downplay the severity of the incident”, the group went on to say. The OA alleged the company had pressured workers to claim it was just smoke, rather than a fire.
“At no time was there a risk to the Stag facility or workforce, with production operations uninterrupted,” the company said. It also reported that it had informed the regulatory authorities immediately.
NOPSEMA agreed to an independent investigation around a week ago, the OA said. Initially, the regulator had attempted to allow Jadestone to self investigate.
In response to a query from Energy Voice, NOPSEMA said Jadestone had notified it of an incident on October 29. This included an inspection of the facility on November 7-10.
“NOPSEMA does not predetermine end points for investigations. The investigation into this matter is ongoing,” it said.
The union group has clashed with Jadestone on the Stag platform in the past. It managed to reach a pay deal in December 2022, after various clashes with management.
Stag is a heavy oilfield on the WA-15-L licence, in the Carnarvon Basin, 60 km offshore. In 2022, Jadestone reported production was just over 2,000 barrels per day. The facility has capacity to produce 30,000 bpd.
Updated at 8:20 am with NOPSEMA comment.