Award given to gas leak reduction project

29 August 2008

The 2008 PSA Award was presented by the Petroleum Safety Authority Norway to the Gas leak reduction project run by the Norwegian Oil Industry Association (OLF). OLF director general Per Terje Vold accepted the award with pride and humility, and said that it provides motivation while imparting responsibility.
This project was established in 2003 in response to a challenge from the PSA, and has subsequently pursued its goals in very determined manner together with industry stakeholders.

“I’ve personally kept myself posted about the progress of this particular project,” Magne Ognedal, director-general of the PSA, said during the award ceremony. “I’m impressed at what it has managed to achieve.”
The PSA Award has been instituted to recognise particularly outstanding efforts by persons or organisations which have made a substantial contribution to improving safety and HSE standards. A condition for winning the prize is that a result has been achieved.

”I’m impressed first and foremost at the project’s dedicated and effective work to prevent major accidents in the Norwegian petroleum industry,” Ognedal continued. “This commendable result has been achieved through a goal-oriented effort to reduce the number of hydrocarbon gas leaks, and has been documented by the PSA's own assessment of the risk level on the Norwegian continental shelf.

“The project reached its ambitious goal of reducing hydrocarbon leaks to less than 10 per year by 2008 already in 2007. It has ensured that everyone operating hydrocarbon-bearing facilities and equipment has the required knowledge and risk perception by establishing an industry standard, which came into force on 1 January 2008.”

"First, we had a goal to reduce the number of gas leaks from 40 in 2003 to 20 in 2005. We met that goal. Then we set ourselves the goal of halving this number again in 2008, and we managed it already in 2007. The efforts of the companies, managers and employees on the installations has been formidable. The result is a brilliant example of what we can achieve through cooperation," said Vold in his acceptance speech.

He praised the companies' open attitude toward sharing lessons learned and identifying best practices.
"Good HSE work has inestimable value for the petroleum industry. This is about our credibility in the community, our "licence to operate". This award provides us with the impetus to not lean back and relax. We will strive for further improvement and demonstrate that we truly are worthy of this honour," said Terje Vold.