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August 21, 1998
(Mines and Energy)
The following is being distributed at the request of the
Canada-Newfoundland Offshore Petroleum Board:
The Canada-Newfoundland Offshore Petroleum Board today released its
decision respecting the application by the Terra Nova Alliance to use alternate standards
for the selection of structural materials and the fabrication of the topsides modules for
the Terra Nova Production System.
The board has approved TNA's application to apply the standards for
welding and fabrication developed in the U.K. and currently employed in the construction
of installations for use in the North Sea and other areas, to the fabrication of the two
topsides modules to be built at Bull Arm as well as to the two modules that will be
fabricated at the BARMAC facility in Ardersier, Scotland.
Terra Nova Alliance's application also sought approval to specify a grade
of high strength steel plate for the topsides modules that is not produced in Canada in
the range of thicknesses required. Steel of this grade, which was also used in the
Hibernia project, is produced elsewhere in the required thicknesses by mills having a
proven track record for quality. The board approved this substitution as well.
In both cases, the proposed specifications equaled or exceeded the
requirements of Canadian standards, and were endorsed by Lloyd's Register, the Certifying
Authority for the Terra Nova project.
In releasing the C-NOPB decision, Chairman Hal Stanley said that the
board's principal concern is the safety of workers in the offshore industry, and it is
satisfied that there is no compromise whatsoever on safety standards in its decision.
Mr. Stanley noted that the Atlantic Accord Acts provided for the
substitution of standards and specifications, and in this case such substitution will
allow for greater flexibility in managing the work with associated savings in production
costs, while equaling or
exceeding Canadian requirements and quality assurance procedures. Local
and other Canadian suppliers and contractors will not be disadvantaged by this decision in
competing for on-site or off-site work. The same amount of structural welding will be
required at the Bull Arm site and the work will be done by qualified Newfoundland welders.
In addition, the work force at the Bull Arm facility will benefit from the experience
gained in working with international standards, and this will place the Bull Arm facility
in a favourable position to compete for work both in the Canadian offshore area and
internationally.
In considering this application, the board consulted with key affected
parties, including the Canadian Welding Bureau, the Association of Professional Engineers
and Geoscientists of Newfoundland, and the Petroleum Development Association, the
organization which represents unionized workers at Bull Arm. Specific concerns raised in
the consultation process have been addressed, and the board's responses to these concerns
are being communicated directly to the parties involved.
The C-NOPB chairman emphasized that this decision by the board applies
only to the fabrication of structural steel for the Terra Nova project. Any proponent
seeking acceptance of alternative codes or standards in the future will be required to
submit a new application which will be judged on its own merits.
Contact:
C-NOPB Spokesperson: H.H. Stanley, Chairman, (709) 778-1456
Media Liaison: Edsel Bonnell, Bonnell Public Relations, (709) 778-1400,
(709) 834-9136 (after hours and weekends)
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C-NOPB's Regulatory Query Process
The "Accord Acts" provide that an operator may propose using
codes, standards, methods, procedures, etc., other than those prescribed in the
regulations administered by the Board and that such applications may be approved where
they provide an equivalent level of safety and/or environmental protection and/or resource
conservation. In other words, the Acts recognize that technological advances continue to
be made, that there are other ways of achieving the objectives of the regulations, and
that it is necessary to enable such advances to be applied to activities undertaken in the
Newfoundland Offshore Area. The codes and standards specified in the regulations provide
the threshold reference against which such proposals are to be considered.
In order to deal with questions regarding the interpretation of the
regulations and with applications for use of alternative methods, codes, standards, etc.,
the Board has established a process under which each such request is considered formally
on its own merits.
Under this process, the applicant is required to submit a Regulatory Query
Form (RQF) summarizing its request and containing the rationale and justification for the
request. If the question is technical in nature, or touches upon a matter affecting
ultimately the Certificate of Fitness for the installation to which the application
refers, the Board's process also requires that the matter be reviewed by the Certifying
Authority (CA) for the installation and that the application indicate, by way of a
signature of an officer of that Authority, whether the CA concurs with the proposal.
The Board also conducts its own assessment of each application consulting
other experts where it considers it necessary to do so. In each case, a summary of the
review results, together with a recommendation as to the disposition of the application is
prepared by the officer who is assigned responsibility for the review. The recommended
disposition of the application may be a rejection, an approval, or an approval with
conditions. The applications are then reviewed by the Manager of the relevant department
of the Board, who must approve the recommendation before bringing it to the Board's Chief
Safety Officer and/or Chief Conservation Officer for final approval. The Chief
Conservation Officer is involved if the application deals with matters affecting
environmental protection or resource conservation.
The Certifying Authority is required to verify that the installation has
been built in accordance with any approved RQF before it issues a Certificate of Fitness
for the installation.
This process has been and continues to be used for Hibernia. During the
course of construction of the Hibernia platform, the Board processed several hundred
RQF's.
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The Role of the Certifying Authority
The regulations governing petroleum activities in the Newfoundland
offshore area require that operators of production, drilling, diving and accommodation
installations obtain a Certificate of Fitness from a recognized Certifying Authority (CA)
for these installations before the C-NOPB may authorize their use.
Because these installations are large and technically complex industrial
structures, it was considered impractical to attempt to establish and maintain within
government a group with the diverse expertise required to assess the adequacy of their
design and construction. Therefore, the federal and provincial governments have recognized
four organizations with internationally recognized expertise in these areas to act as
Certifying Authorities under the regulations. They are:
A Certificate of Fitness attests that the installation to which it refers:
Has been designed, constructed and installed in accordance with the
applicable regulations and any conditions established by the relevant regulatory
authorities.
Is fit for the purpose for which it is to be used and can be operated
safely at the intended location without polluting the environment.
Has an established inspection, maintenance and weight control program
that will ensure the installation retains its "fit for purpose" condition.
The scope of work for the CA's certification activities respecting an
installation must be acceptable to the Board's Chief Safety Officer who may require
additional design reviews, surveys or examinations to be conducted by the CA at any time.
1998 08 21 12:30 p.m.
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