From left: Gunnar Bygnes, Frank Skjerping, Helge Lund, Kjell Owren og Otto Lavik etter prisutdelingen. (Photo: Helge Hansen, StatoilHydro).

Critical Competence

President and CEO, Helge Lund, awarded the prize in front of executives from across the entire organisation.
“I have only been really afraid once in the four years I have been CEO, and that was during the Snorre incident of 2004.  That was the toughest night of my life, and I don't think I'm the only one in this company who felt that way,” said Lund.

Working to increase well integrity on offshore installations is very important for avoiding large accidents; like what the gas blowout incident on the Snorre A platform, November 28, 2004, could have developed into.  It is to exactly this field that the winners are contributing to increased competence and understanding among the personnel working closest with daily well operations and monitoring.

Collaboration with Mintra for Interactive E-Learning

Offshore operational personnel have an important role in well monitoring and daily operations.  The winners of the chief executive’s HSE prize have worked to raise the competence of operational personnel through courses and competence improving initiatives.

Mintra is involved in two projects to raise competence levels in this critical field.  In the fall of 2007, Mintra competed the e-learning course, “Downhole Mechanisms and Operational Practice”, for StatoilHydro.  This spring, Mintra and StatoilHydro are developing the course, “Well Integrity”.

Kjell Owren is the Technical Manager for ‘Drilling and Wells’, at StatoilHydro, and is one of the prize winners.  According to Owren, the e-learning courses will be immensely valuable tools.  They will provide personnel with the opportunity to strengthen their competence themselves, and can, for example, bring participants up to the same level of competence before they participate in courses.

Downhole Mechanisms and Operational Practice

The object of the interactive training package for drilling and operational best practices is to improve knowledge of drilling best practices and establish positive attitudes toward using best practices.

Screendump from the course ’Downhole Mechanisms and Operational Practice’

The target group for this course is field specialists in the operational environments that directly affect the planning and execution of drilling processes.  They can be both internal and external personnel, meaning that operator companies, contractors, service companies and suppliers for the offshore industry will find this training package useful.

The training package addresses the following topics:

• Hole Cleaning
• Lost Circulation
• Hole Enlargements

After completing each module, participants will have a better understanding of best practices for these situations.

Well Integrity

The target group for this training package is drilling and well engineers and managers, production engineers, production operators, as well as collaboration partners.  The object of the course is threefold:

- To improve the quality of well integrity for drilling and well operations, both during planning and execution. 
- To increase the understanding of the requirements specified in NORSOK D-010, Well Integrity in Drilling and Well Operations.
- To contribute to uniform practices across the company: in conjunction with the merger, it is also important to provide users with a common understanding of concepts in this critical field.

Screendump from the course ’Well Integrity’

“Understanding well barriers is fundamentally important for our operations,” says a satisfied winner, Frank Skjerping, representing the drilling and well environment on Gullfaks.

Like the others who were awarded the prize, he hopes that other areas of the organisation will find the course and competency improvement scheme they have developed for operational personnel useful, across field specialties.

Continuous Project

Working to raise competence in well barriers and downhole equipment is an important step in preventing large accidents and serious incidents at offshore gas and oil wells.

“The HSE prize provides inspiration.  Our work does not end with the prize.  We definitely expect to use more e-learning in our work, and look forward to using e-learning to strengthen competence for all relevant personnel,” says Kjell Owren, Technical Manager for Drilling and Wells.

(Photo: Øyvind Hagen, StatoilHydro)

For more information, please contact:

Trude Bergum Stanger, Project Manager, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , 91 32 27 58

Magne Kristiansen, Senior Consultant, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , 92 40 03 10