Aberdeen’s Optimus sold to Dekra Insight
Aberdeen safety consultancy Optimus Seventh Generation has been acquired by Dekra Insight.
Health, Safety & Environment
Petrobas incidents: Two fatalities after scaffolding collapse and platform fire
An investigation has been launched after an incident at a Brazilian oil terminal operated by state-owned Petrobas caused two fatalities. Two workers were killed after scaffolding erected on a construction project at the site collapsed at the end of a pier operated by Transpetro, which is the company’s pipeline and shipping unit. It is understood the workers, who had been wearing security belts, drowned during the incident.
Months of repairs expected after rig collapses
A rig will have to undergo months of repairs and maintenance after one of its jack-up legs collapsed – causing it to keel into waters offshore Qatar. The incident happened in the Maersk Oil operated field Al Shaheen on the Rumailah rig, which is owned by GIS (Gulf International Services). Both companies said all personnel were evacuated safely and no injuries had been reported.
Shell’s Alistair Fraser tackles healthy workforce challenge
A number of business leaders will gather in Aberdeen today to discuss the challenges and importance of maintaining a healthy workforce in the current economic climate. A round table event is being held by RGU:Wellness, a unique occupational health service for workplace absence management, to address the increasing challenge of ensuring that employee health and wellbeing remains a strategic priority.
Judge grants access to Super Puma black box data
A judge has granted a bid by Scotland's senior law officer to get access to black box data from a crashed helicopter which claimed the lives of four offshore workers. The Lord Advocate, Frank Mulholland QC, had sought court authority to make the combined voice and flight data recorder (CVFDR) available to him in a move opposed by the pilots' union, BALPA.
Statoil to make safety improvements after audit
An audit by the PSA (Petroleum Safety Authority) Norway has criticised Statoil over an alleged failure to monitor the condition of safety-critical blowout preventer equipment on a pair of North Sea platforms. Between October 2014 and January 2015 the PSA conducted the audits at Oseberg B and Gullfaks C. The authority said the findings were applied primarily to the BOP (Blowout Preventer) system which had been chosen as a particular object of verification during the audit.
Worker injured in refinery incident
A worker has been injured following a light hydrocarbon release at oil major Shell's refinery in Ontario, Canada. According to reports, the worker sustained burns and was in a stable condition. The incident comes after the family of a worker killed in an explosion were given an estimated $5million as part of a settlement deal.
Runaway oil tanker explodes killing 69 people
Nigeria’s Red Cross says a runaway oil tanker truck exploded in a crowded bus station in the south of the country, igniting 11 other vehicles and burning 69 people to death. Red Cross chairman Peter Emeka Kathy said Monday that about 30 other victims have been taken to hospital with severe burns.
Chevron settle lawsuit with family of worker killed in gas well fire
Oil major Chevron has reached a settlement with the family of a worker who was burned to death in a gas well fire in the US. Ian McKee died aged 27-years-old when he had gone to investigate the hissing sound of gas which was escaping under high pressure at the Chevron Lanco 7H well in Greene County, Pennslyvania.
Tornado in Texas hits natural gas drilling rig
A tornado in Texas has left three people injured after hitting a natural gas drilling rig in Texas. According to reports, one victim suffered minor injuries, another had non-life threatening injuries to his face and a third had suffered an injury to their abdomen.
Alberta fire threat grows as blaze moves toward oil sites
Northern Alberta firefighters are battling a wildfire that has moved within 5 kilometers of Cenovus Energy Inc’s oil sands operations. The Cold Lake Air Weapons Range blaze is spreading in the direction of oil and gas operations and threatens plants run by Cenovus and Canadian Natural Resources Ltd., Scott Long, an executive director at the Alberta Emergency Management Agency, said in a press conference Wednesday. Firefighters put in containment and protection guards to keep it from getting closer, he said. Wildfires have prompted the shutdown of 230,000 barrels a day of oil-sands output, about 10 percent of Canada’s production.
Hundreds of workers evacuated from Alberta hit fire region
Hundreds of workers have been evacuated from three oil sands projects in Alberta as wildfires affect the region. Statoil, MEG Energy and Cenovus Energy made the move as fires coarsed through the area. Projects have also been shutdown by Cenovus and Canadian Natural Resources, though none have been affected by the fires.
Workers safely evacuated after forest fire
Workers have been safely evacuated after the Foster Creek oil sands and Athabasca natural gas operation after a forest fire on the Cold Lake Air Weapons Range in northeastern Alberta. The fire has been burning about 25kilometres south of Cenovus's Foster Creek facility. The company said the decision to send staff home and shut down production was made because of the fire's proximity to the only access road to the facilities.
Californian pipeline to remain closed until strict measures taken
Safety officials have warned owners of the oil pipeline which ruptured last week that numerous measures must be taken before the line can be restarted. Work needed includes an in-depth analysis of the factors which may have contributed to the spill. The corrective action order was issued just a few days after the incident by the US Transportation Department's Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Administration.
Oil platform in Gulf of Mexico shuts in production after fire
A platform gathering oil in the Gulf of Mexico shut in about 2,200 barrels a day of output after a compressor caught fire. The Texas Petroleum Investment Co. platform in Breton Sound Block 21, near the southeastern Louisiana coast, evacuated 28 workers without injury after the compressor fire, according to a US Coast Guard statement. A Coast Guard boat crew was fighting the blaze, and a 1.4-mile rainbow sheen was “drifting southwest of the platform.”
Investigation underway into vessel fire
More than 80 crew were evacuated from an offshore support vessel after a blaze broke out in its generator room. Thirty-five firefighters were called to Peterhead harbour after the alarm was raised on board the 426ft Fugro Symphony. Two units from Peterhead, two from Ellon and one from Maud went to the scene. A specialist foam unit from Aberdeen was also called and three firefighters wearing breathing apparatus along with a member of the ship’s own fire team pinpointed the blaze in the ship’s generator room on one of its lower decks.
Statoil internal investigation finds Gudrun leak could have ‘been fatal’
An internal investigation by Norwegian oil company Statoil into a gas leak on the Gudrun platform as been classified as the 'highest degree of seriousness'. The report into the incident, which happened in February, found the outcome could have been fatal if anyone had been exposed to the leak. A spokesman said the a gas leak of its size represented a "major incident potential" if ignited.
Prosecutors will demand black box from crash helicopter
A landmark legal hearing will be held this week in a bid to quicken the criminal investigation into a North Sea helicopter crash which killed four offshore workers. Prosecutors will go to the Court of Session in Edinburgh on Tuesday to argue that accident investigators must hand over the black box recorder from the Super Puma L2 which came down off the coast of Shetland, in August 2013. It is hoped that the move will shorten the wait faced by survivors and families of those who died for answers over the tragedy. The hearing has been scheduled for three days.
Petrobas output on rise after missing production targets
Petrobas said output in Brazil and abroad rose 8.8% last month from a year ago to 2.78million barrels of oil and equivalent natural gas. Brazil's state-run oil company said increases in production on two if its recently installed FPSOs (Floating Production, Storage and Offloading) in the sub-salt region at Santos basin were the main factors behind the overall output boost.
Offshore worker in stable condition after falling from rig
An offshore worker is in a stable condition after falling overboard from a rig. Statoil said the incident happened in the early hours of the morning from the Seadrill West Hercules off Newfoundland & Labrador in Canada. The semi-submersible is being used as part of the Norwegian company's exploration drilling program in the region.
Two workers dead in Gulf of Mexico rig accident
An accident on an offshore maintenance rig in the Gulf of Mexico has left two workers dead. The Troll Solution rig in the southern Bay of Campeche has been contracted to operate in Pemex's Abkatun-Pol-Chuc shallow water oil field. It was positioning itself to carry out maintenance on wells linked to the Caan Alf platform.
Survival training firm recognised for safety improvement efforts
A survival training firm has been recognised for its achievements in safety at this year’s IADC North Sea Chapter Awards. Falck Safety Services has received the accolade in honour of its safety initiatives, which have included schemes to improve safety performance and reducing risk in environmental, technical and operational settings, throughout the last 12 months.
Watchdog urges tighter checks on helicopter flights
Regulators have proposed strict new safety rules for helicopters flying to unmanned oil and gas platforms in the North Sea. The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) wants to tighten up procedures for trips to the 116 installations which are normally unattended offshore. The newly-announced plans would mean that helicopters would only be able to go to such platforms if they have full capability to fly safely on one engine following loss of power of its other engine.
Crew of ship seized by Iran ‘safe’
The operator of a Marshall Islands-flagged cargo vessel boarded by Iranian forces as it was traversing the Strait of Hormuz said it has confirmed the crew are safe. The company is still trying to determine why the ship was seized the previous day by the Islamic Republic. The MV Maersk Tigris was taken to Bandar Abbas, the main port for Iran’s navy, under escort by Iranian patrol boats, according to Maersk Line, the Danish shipping company that had chartered it. The incident comes at a critical time in Iran’s relations with the United States and the West amid talks about its contested nuclear programme.
Production halted on four platforms after pipeline leak
Petrobas has halted production from four oil platforms off the coast of Brazil after a leak of about 7,000 litres of oil. The leak, which was believed to be coming from a pipeline linking them, was confirmed by the country's oil regulator ANP. The incident occurred in the Camorim field, 16 kilometres off the coast of the city of Aracaju.