The Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board (C-NLOPB) Friday announced it has lifted the notice to suspend operations for the SeaRose floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel and associated facilities.
The January 17, 2018 C-NLOPB notice to suspend operations resulted from an incident in March 2017 where Husky Energy (TSX:HSE) departed from its agreed Ice Management Plan by not disconnecting the vessel and sailing away when an iceberg entered its quarter-mile exclusion zone.
“We could have and should have responded differently according to the pre-existing plan, and have learned from this incident,” said 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 and in this case we let ourselves down.”
In conjunction with the C-NLOPB, a series of actions have been taken to ensure this type of incident cannot happen again, including:
- A comprehensive review of Husky’s ice management and emergency response plans has been conducted, and further improvements have been made and implemented. The emergency response plan reinforces that the SeaRose FPSO must be disconnected if a threatening iceberg enters the 0.25 nautical mile ice exclusion area and that there can be no exceptions.
- Husky completed an emergency response drill, observed by the C-NLOPB, industry partners and the offshore facilities certifying authority.
- Management has met with employees onshore and offshore to communicate the changes being made and to reinforce that procedures must be followed with no exceptions.
- Organizational changes include the appointment of Trevor Pritchard as Senior Vice President, Atlantic Region. He was previously the Company’s head of safety, overseeing operational integrity and ensuring a safe work environment. Pritchard will report directly to Chief Operating Officer Rob Symonds.
“Trevor Pritchard is well known to many in Newfoundland and Labrador. He has previously led the business and under his leadership the SeaRose FPSO established a solid track record for safety and reliability,” said Peabody. “I’m very pleased he has agreed to move from his previous position leading Process and Occupational Safety for the whole of Husky to return to a province where I know he has strong ties.
“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.”
The March 2017 incident did not result in any product release or environmental impact.
The safe and controlled resumption of operations is expected to take approximately three days. The SeaRose FPSO was producing approximately 27,000 barrels of oil per day (Husky working interest, before royalties) prior to the suspension of operations.
Source: Husky Energy