Although it has some experience of marine operations in the Arctic, the oil & gas industry does not have any standard for managing the risks involved. In order to prepare the industry for such marine operations and ensure that they are performed within defined and recognised safety levels, DNV is initiating a new Joint Industry Project.
The global demand for energy is driving new oil and gas development plans for the Arctic. To harvest the region’s resources, industry must tackle the extreme climate, with constant hazards due to ice, cold and darkness. The design of offshore installations in areas of Arctic conditions and ice interaction is a discipline which is continuing to develop. The research and development work relating to detailed design aspects is ongoing.
The ‘DNV – Rules for Planning and Execution of Marine Operations’ are a well known and highly used standard for marine operations worldwide. The overall objective of these rules is to ensure that marine operations are performed within defined and recognised safety levels. New challenges, such as ice interaction, remoteness from infrastructure, icing and positioning have to be faced when moving marine operations in Arctic areas. The DNV rules do not stipulate requirements for operations in cold climates.
All the major phases of an offshore field involve marine operations. Transportation and installation operations are essential in the field development phase, during the platform installation phase and later on for in-service maintenance and repair interventions during the field’s operational phase. All types of installation, positioning and transport operations will be more complicated in Arctic areas.
DNV is initiating a JIP relating to Marine Operations in the Arctic, which will result in a DNV Recommended Practice (RP). The JIP intends to present guidelines that draw together an overall best practice approach that can be applied to ensure safe marine operations in the Arctic. The RP will cover the following main topics:
Ice management
Transport operations
Platform installation
Transit and temporary positioning of mobile offshore units
The JIP is in the project planning phase and will start to invite possible industry partners to join the project by the autumn of 2010.