Tuesday 15 August 2017

Norway’s safety agency needs more time to review its plan for decommissioning of four platforms at the aging Ekofisk field off Norway, but ConocoPhillips is allowed to start preparatory work.

The US independent’s plan to remove the platforms from the field could still be derailed by federal authorities over working conditions for personnel hired by heavy-lift player Heerema Marine Contractors (HMC) from Asian staffing agencies.

However, the operator has now been granted a limited consent to start preparatory work and some light lifting work on the first platform to be removed by HMC’s giant crane vessel Thialf.

“We have given consent for installation of a crane and some lifting work, but we will need more time than usual to review the complete application from ConocoPhillips,” a spokesman for Norway's Petroleum Safety Authority (PSA).

A consent for the whole job will likely not be given until the fourth quarter. However, the PSA has warned that HMC personnel working on the fixed platform must be working in accordance with Norwegian petroleum regulations.

It is still unclear how this issue will be resolved. ConocoPhillips claims that workers from HMC will only enter the platform being decommissioned for short periods of time and that their place of work will actually be the lifting vessel.

However, decommissioning work requires extensive work on board the platform being decommissioned, and industry sources said there were 16 riggers, 36 scaffolders, six electricians and four blasters from the Far East on board the Thialf last week. It is unclear if these numbers have been altered after a major crew change in Stavanger last week.

The removal of Ekofisk platforms 2/4 A, H, Q and FTP is the first decommissioning project in Norway since 2013, when the PSA said ConocoPhillips broke working-hour regulations for a group of personnel hired by HMC.

ConocoPhillips appealed the PSA’s ruling to the Ministry of Labour & Social Affairs, but the decommissioning operation was completed and the ruling was then withdrawn before the ministry reached a conclusion.

The issue has now resurfaced as the Thialf mobilises for removal work on Ekofisk.

International maritime laws and working conditions apply to crew members working solely on Thialf, but the PSA argues that Norwegian regulations should apply for welders, riggers, scaffolders and others working on board the fixed platforms that are being decommissioned.

In its audit of the 2013 removal project, the PSA estimated that there were about 80 workers in these categories working for HMC on ConocoPhillips’ platform. Norwegian law regulates working hours and working conditions, while wages are set by unions and employers through tariff agreements. However, the law states that workers on offshore platforms have the right to form a trade union and demand a tariff agreement.

Norwegian working environment regulations state that offshore periods shall be limited to 14 days, and that working hours shall not exceed 36 hours per week on average.

This could cause problems for the Ekofisk decommissioning project, as it would imply that workers be sent back to their homes in Asia after just two weeks of work, given Norway's two-weeks-on and four-weeks-off rotation.