March 3, 2026,
by
Melisa Cavcic
Norway’s issue-owned energy giant Equinor has wrapped up its investigation into a wisely control incident that occurred on a semi-submersible rig working within the Norwegian sector of the North Sea. This incident is classified as being within the company’s absolute most sensible category of severity.
Equinor has done the investigation of a wisely control incident on the Deepsea Bollsta rig, managed by Odfjell Drilling and owned by Northern Ocean, on September 23, 2025. The incident occurred in connection with plugging a wisely on the Troll enviornment, whereas reducing a 13-3/8″ casing at a depth of about 510 meters. A leak of gas and fluid unfold to the drill floor and the shaker room, where rocks and cuttings are faraway from the drilling fluid earlier than the fluid is returned to the wisely.
All around the incident, one particular person had anxiousness evacuating from the room as a result of the differential stress that occurred; thus, they suffered minor injuries and acquired first aid therapy aboard after using power to gain out. The gas and fluid column from the leak also broken the air drift machine within the ceiling of the room.
Rune Nedregaard, Equinor’s Senior Vice President for Drilling and Properly, commented: “We’re taking the wisely control incident that led to a gas emission on Deepsea Bollsta very significantly. There have been in actuality in depth forces at play and gas came aboard. This used to be a dramatic match for folk who’ve been at work. At the same time, all safety boundaries functioned as intended and the crew handled the recount wisely, thus preventing any escalation.”
The company claims that automated gas detection brought about the rig’s safety programs and doable ignition sources have been disconnected. The crew on Deepsea Bollsta activated the rig’s blow-out preventer (BOP) and diverter machine based utterly totally on linked procedures. The diverter machine routed gas, fluid and stress from the wisely far from the rig earlier than the blow-out preventer closed.
The firm elaborates that blow-out preventer closed after 71 seconds; thus, stopping the drift of gas. The recount used to be normalised in Half-hour. Equinor underlines that it has initiated multiple measures following the incident. A brand contemporary requirement used to be right this moment utilized to discontinuance the BOP within the match of shallow cuts and pulling the casing, no matter activation time.
Based utterly totally on the investigation’s calculations, about 930 kilos of gas leaked out in a transient duration of time, which is classified as a red 1 incident, the indispensable category within the Norwegian firm’s administration machine. There used to be combustible gas on the drill floor and within the shaker room for a transient duration of time, nonetheless doable ignition sources have been disconnected.
The company’s investigation has certain that the conditions would have to be pretty just a few for the gas to ignite. The trigger of the incident used to be resolute to be the BOP within the starting up location when the casing used to be prick, whereas on the same time, confined gas used to be present within the wait on of the casing. The annulus within the wait on of the casing used to be logged earlier than the reducing, nonetheless the gear used to be not calibrated wisely.
As a consequence, the gas used to be not known upfront. Alternatively, Equinor emphasizes that the incident did not have the skill for an uncontrolled blowout. The gas used to be from a runt volume confined within the wait on of the casing and used to be not in touch with the reservoir. The boundaries against the reservoir have been intact.
Nedregaard highlighted: “We’ve bought a thorough investigation file that will do the premise for lessons learned. Amongst other things, the investigation aspects to technical elements that will maybe prevent such incidents. Quite a lot of measures have been initiated right this moment following the incident.
“Equinor will portion the investigation findings and utilized measures with our suppliers. The Norwegian Ocean Industry Authority’s investigation may possibly even be valuable for Equinor’s apply-up moving forward.”
