By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, June 3 -- Statoil ASA has terminated its charter with a unit of Fred Olsen Energy ASA for the Byford Dolphin semisubmersible drilling rig, citing inadequate safety measures. The contract for the rig, which was owned by Dolphin AS, was originally to run until Oct. 8.
Most recently, the rig had been working on ExxonMobil Corp.'s Sigyn discovery in the Norwegian North Sea when an accident on the drilling rig killed a worker in April. Statoil was using the rig to drill on behalf of ExxonMobil's Norwegian unit, as Sigyn was to be tied back to Statoil's Sleipner East field.
"Safety on this rig does not meet contractual requirements, and new measures adopted after a fatal accident on [Apr. 17] have not been satisfactorily followed up," said Henrik Carlsen, Statoil executive vice-president, exploration and production, Norway.
The findings from an investigation into the accident—launched by Statoil shortly after the incident occurred—revealed that a 200 kg spool piece that had fallen through a hole in the drill floor fell to the working platform 14 m below. "The accident was triggered by the hole in the drill floor being inadequately secured," Statoil reported. The report concluded that other factors were involved in the accident, including inadequate planning, insufficient understanding of risk, and failure to ensure that procedures were observed. Communication relating to work being carried out also was found to be "deficient," and therefore, contributed to the accident, the company said.
"Safety has a high priority in Statoil, but our investigation shows that we failed to live up to our own targets on this occasion," Carlsen said. "The accident will have consequences for the supervision of our operations on drilling units."
Calsen added that Statoil has now implemented a number of company measures that will include strengthening of the drilling superintendent function and better-coordinated rig supervision.