Public Notice: NOPSA acts on 2009 Montara well failure and oil spill; moots legal action against operators

First 13 of 13 paragraphs shown Legal action was planned against PTTEP Australasia (Ashmore Cartier) Pty Ltd and Atlas Drilling (S) PTE Ltd, operators of the the Montara oil field. The well was in the Timor Sea, about 690km west of Darwi.
The action: The action was mooted by occupational health and safety (OHS) regulator for the Australian offshore petroleum industry, National Offshore Petroleum Safety Authority (NOPSA)
August 2009 blowout, two fires and a giant oil leak: A blowout and two fires and a giant oil leak saw NOPSA order the rig and the West Atlas mobile offshore drilling unit (MODU) evacuated , and ordered a prohibition notice to stop operations.
NOPSA wants more power: The National Offshore Petroleum Safety Authority (NOPSA), in a submission to the Montara Commission said ‘ it is clear that the uncontrolled release occurred because there was a failure of the integrity of one of the wells in the Montara field’. NOPSA has no authority over integrity and safety of wells. The CEO argued NOPSA should have that power.
NOPSA seeks technical integrity investigation powers: NOPSA was responsible for regulating the occupational health and safety of people at offshore petroleum facilities. NOPSA’s functions and powers do not extend to the integrity of wells. “NOPSA has submitted to the Commission of Inquiry that it strongly believes there is a requirement for legislative change to create a more focussed and better resourced administration for regulating the integrity of wells,“ said CEO, Jane Cutler, 15 January 2010.
Two reviews: The Montara Commission report was competed, but not published, but on 18 June 2010 the National Offshore Petroleum Safety Authority (NOPSA) referred a brief of evidence to the CDPP as part of its investigation into :
- whether occupational health and safety laws were contravened by the operators of the Montara well head platform and the West Atlas rig.
CDPP to consider the brief: New NOPSA Chief Information Officer, John Townsend said an NOPSA investigation was launched by NOPSA immediately following the uncontrolled release of hydrocarbons on 21 August 2009 from the Montara well head platform. The platform is located in the Ashmore Cartier region in the Timor Sea, about 690 km west of Darwin.
Separate Commission of Inquiry: A separate Commission of Inquiry into the uncontrolled release of oil and gas from the Montara Wellhead Platform in the Timor Sea was established on 5 November 2009 by the Hon. Martin Ferguson, Minister for Resources and Energy; Minister for Tourism.
Rise in well failure events:: In 2009 NOPSA published its first Offshore Health and Safety Performance Report 2007-08 which included comparison with data from 2005-06. In addition, NOPSA published details on industrys performance in the Operational Report within NOPSA's 2008-09 Annual Report. Summary of results for 2008-09 i showed”
- number of dangerous occurrences remained at higher levels set in 2007-08;
- four major gas releases occurred in 2008-09 (major release is defined as more than 300kg).
...Log in to read rest of Article or image.