Petrofac has been issued an improvement notice after a gas leak went undetected on a North Sea platform.
The incident is understood to have happened in March on the Kittiwake platform, which is located 160km from Aberdeen.
It is understood a worker alerted staff to the leak 84 minutes after it had first begun and production was immediately halted.
A notice from the HSE (Health and Safety Executive) said: “You [Petrofac] failed to take appropriate measures to prevent the uncontrolled release of flammable gas from instrument line PIA 2054 on the first stage of the Kittiwake platform E Gas compressor.
“Your current estimate of the gas release is 1670 kg, over a period of 84 minutes in the early hours of 20th March 2015.
“The release occurred when a section of stainless steel small bore tubing to a pressure transducer on your E-Gas reciprocating compressor fractured due to vibration fatigue.”
The improvement notice was issued under the Offshore Installations (Prevention of Fire and Explosion, and Emergency Response) Regulations, 1995, Regulation 9.
The HSE said Petrofac will have until September 30 to comply with the order.
A spokesman for Petrofac said: “Safety is our number one priority and we take any occurrence of this kind extremely seriously.
“We fully accept the HSE’s recommendations and are working in conjunction with them to further develop and strengthen our small bore pipework management and fire and gas detection systems.”
The release had not been picked up by the platform’s flammable gas detection system, but it is understood the gas had been dispersing as it was emitted.
Petrofac is the duty holder on the Kittiwake Area, while EnQuest is the operator.
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