The North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) regulator has issued a £125,000 fine to Chinese operator CNOOC for breaching venting consents at its Buzzard field.
The NSTA said the breaches occurred on two separate occasions in the space of a fortnight in June 2022.
CNOOC is the sixth North Sea operator the NSTA has fined for excessive flaring or venting in the past two years as the regulator continues to crackdown on the issue.
The offshore regulator said it has now issued fines totalling £825,000 for flaring or venting consent breaches since late 2022.
Buzzard leak
On 31 May 2022, the NSTA said CNOOC detected a leak in the line which supplies fuel needed to keep the flame lit on Buzzard’s flare stack.
As a result, CNOOC shut off the fuel line and began venting excess gas into the atmosphere.
On 1 June, CNOOC confirmed to the NSTA it had breached the annual consent for Buzzard. However, the company continued venting until a fault with the generator led to production shutting down on 3 June.
“Despite being fully aware that it did not have a valid consent for additional venting, CNOOC restarted production and export activities from Buzzard on 9 June, then further venting took place due to a faulty valve on the fuel gas system,” the NSTA said.
“CNOOC continued to produce, and therefore vent, through to 13 June.”
Between 31 May and 13 June. the NSTA said CNOOC exceeded its annual venting limit by a total of just over 434 tonnes of gas.
The NSTA issued a revised consent on 14 June, bringing Buzzard back into compliance for any further venting during the rest of 2022.
The NSTA said CNOOC cooperated throughout the investigation and introduced measures to prevent recurrences, including improved monitoring and a new approach to consent applications.
Previously, CNOOC had only requested consent to vent minimal volumes of gas, as venting was uncommon on Buzzard.
Operators need to remain ‘vigilant’ on emissions
NSTA director regulation Jane de Lozey said North Sea operators have made strides in cutting flaring and venting, having almost halved emissions since 2018.
“However, at a time when the industry is competing for investment, and its commitment to the energy transition is under intense scrutiny, it is vital that all operators remain vigilant on emissions,” de Lozey said.
The NSTA said it is “crucial that licensees comply with regulatory obligations to show they are operating their assets responsibly”.
© Supplied by iStockAccording to the regulator, flaring and venting make up about 20% of the UK oil and gas sector’s offshore production emissions.
While some flaring and venting is unavoidable for safety reasons, the NSTA said “more must be done to reduce the amount of gas being emitted via these processes”.
The regulator recently flagged a stricter approach to the issue, warning operators that it will consider fines of £500,000 as the “new starting point” for breaches from the start of 2025.
CNOOC says lessons learned from Buzzard breach
In response to the NSTA announcement, a spokesperson for CNOOC subsidiary CNOOC Petroleum Europe Limited (CPEL) said: “The circumstances which resulted in the increased venting were unforeseen and CPEL promptly engaged with the North Sea Transition Authority to proactively address the situation and prevent reoccurrence.
“Lessons have been learned from this event and corrective measures have already been put in place.
“Subsequently, there has not been a repeat event across any of CPEL’s operated assets.
“Safety and environmental responsibility are at the core of CPEL’s cultural beliefs, and we are committed to protecting the health and safety of our people and the environment at all times.”
State-owned CNOOC is the third largest national oil company in China after the parent companies of PetroChina and Sinopec.
CNOOC became the operator of Buzzard, one of the UK’s largest oilfields, in 2013 after taking over Canadian firm Nexen in a £9.4 billion deal.
Buzzard has been linked to the Green Volt project, Europe’s largest approved floating wind farm, as part of efforts to decarbonise North Sea assets.
Venting and flaring breaches
The NSTA sanction for CNOOC follows penalties for several over North Sea operators in recent months.
In April last year, the regulator issued a £225,000 fine to Perenco for flaring 59 tonnes of gas from its Dimlington onshore gas processing plant without consent.
Earlier that month, the NSTA fined NEO Energy £100,000 breaching its combined vent consent for the Donan/Dumbarton, Lochranza and Balloch fields.
And in December 2023, Repsol received a £160,000 fine for flaring and venting breaches at the Auk North, Halley and Fulmar fields.
At the time, the Repsol fine was criticised as “paltry” and “embarrassing”.
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