Offshore staff
CALGARY – The Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board (C-NLOPB) has lifted its suspension of operations at the SeaRose FPSO and associated facilities offshore Newfoundland.
It imposed the suspension on Jan. 17, following a review of an incident last March where operator Husky Energy is said to have departed from the agreed Ice Management Plan for the area.
When an iceberg entered the FPSO’s quarter-mile exclusion zone, the company did not respond by disconnecting the vessel with a subsequent sailaway.
“We could have and should have responded differently according to the pre-existing plan, and have learned from this incident,” said Husky’s CEO Rob Peabody. “We will apply these lessons and share the learnings broadly in the region and across the company. Our engagement with the C-NLOPB was constructive and cooperative. We share the same objective. The safety of our people and the protection of the environment is our first priority.”
To ensure similar situations do not arise in future, the company has agreed a series of actions with the C-NLOPB, including:
- A full review of Husky’s ice management and emergency response plans, already performed with improvements introduced and implemented. The emergency response plan acknowledges that theSeaRose FPSO must be disconnected if a threatening iceberg enters the 0.25 nautical mile ice exclusion area.
- An emergency response drill (already completed), observed by the C-NLOPB, industry partners, and the offshore facilities certifying authority.
- Husky’s management has met with employees offshore and onshore to relay the changes that are being made and to make it clear that procedures must be followed with no exceptions.
- Organizational changes, with the appointment of Trevor Pritchard as SVP, Atlantic Region. Pritchard, previously the company’s head of safety, will report directly to coo Rob Symonds.
“Under Trevor’s leadership we look forward to resuming production, continuing our exploration in both the Jeanne d’Arc and Flemish Pass basins, and progressing the West White Rose project to first production in 2022,” Peabody said.
Husky expected the controlled resumption of operations at the FPSO to go through within around three days.
1/29/2018
