Norwegian oil to learn about frost from the Russians

The Norwegian oil industry is moving further to the North and has to be prepared for ice cold work-days in the dark. The Norwegian association for oil and gas workers Industri Energi (IE) wants to speed up the development of new working clothes, lifeboats and safety courses adapted to far more harsh surrondings than in the Northern Sea and the Norwegian Sea, Aftenbladet writes.

Russians have long experience of working in cold and dark environments. On the Yamal Peninsula, where Russia has explored gas for nearly 50 years, the middle temperature in January is -25°C.

- We can learn a lot from the Russians about how to work in extreme cold, says Head of Occupational Health and Safety in IE Ketil Karlsen to Aftenbladet. If we want to succeed on working in cold and darkness, we have to listen to the Russian’s experiences, he adds.

The association for oil and gas workers plans to spend 8-10 million NOK on the cooperation project.

The Norwegian Government has initiated a project on cooperation with Russia on development of common safety standards for the petroleum industry in the Barents Sea. As BarentsObserver reported, the experts involved in the project recommended standards for the design of stationary offshore unites in the Barents Sea as well as standards for risk management of major hazards in the Arctic.