Chevron details Erskine fire follow up

Published 23.03.2010 13:09:44 by John Bradbury

Chevron North Sea has confirmed that a pipework clamp was involved in the fire on the unmanned UK North Sea Erskine platform back in January this year.

The fire was detected by the BG operated Lomond gas installation 30 km (18 miles) away and was confirmed when a helicopter was ordered to over-fly the burning platform.

A remote monitoring system on BG's Lomond platform identified the fire at 2.30pm which was confirmed with a fly-by using a helicopter from BP's Miller platform at 3.45pm. A second helicopter fly-by at 4.15pm confirmed that the fire was out, Chevron states.

Chevron's statement, obtained by Offshore247.com, confirms that a carbon steel ring, was partly responsible for the blaze on the installation.

In the statement, Chevron says an investigation of the fire which occurred almost two months ago on 24 January, “..Found that a carbon steel ring, fitted in a clamp connecting pipe work to one of the wellheads, had corroded an allowed a hydrocarbon release, leading to a fire in the well bay.”

And the operator underlines the point that no-one was on board Erskine at the time and it adds that no cause for the ignition of the hydrocarbon release has yet been found.

“The source of ignition has not yet been identified and is still under investigation,” Chevron states.

Furthermore, Chevron confirmed that the UK's Health and Safety Executive – the offshore safety watchdog – has issued an improvement notice requiring inspection of all similar clamps on Erskine, and the “..implementation of any necessary corrective actions.”

The HSE has not yet published the details of that improvement notice because Chevron has 21 days to appeal against it before it is made public.

Detailing the follow up to the fire, Chevron said it “...Took a very cautious approach to ascertain the safety and stability of the installation before it was determined that an investigation team could safely fly out.”

That first visit took place on 2nd February, “..When the team was able to confirm that the on-board safety systems had activated exactly as designed, shutting down production and cutting off fuel to the fire,” Chevron said. “They also confirmed that the fire had been contained in the well bay, there was no structural damage to the installation and that all the wells were secured and in good condition. In addition, the team also confirmed that the most significant damage caused by the fire was to the Hydraulic Pressure Unit, situated next to the wellheads in the well bay.”

Erskine is a minimal facilities installation, and receives production from five wells and exports gas and condensate to Lomond for processing and there are hydrocarbon processing facilities which minimises the amount of hydrocarbons on board.

Erskine remains shut down and the operator has indicated it does not expected production to re-start until mid-year.

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