Hydrocarbon Gas Release Incident Highlights Inspection

Cause & Consequence

• Not Assigned

Incident Location

Any Location Type

Incident Activity

Any Activity Type

Incident Info Source

alerts@nopsa.gov.au

Specific Incident Equipment

Gas lift riser pipe

Lessons Identified

The gas release was found to have occurred from a corroded section of riser above the water-line which was not accessible to internal or external inspection. The investigation found that there were no inspection hatches on the caisson, and the diameter of this section of the gas riser was too small to allow intelligent pigging. As the design of the facility did not readily facilitate inspection, testing and maintenance of this particular section of pipe, the ongoing integrity of the riser could not be ensured.Contributing factors to the incident included:•Pipeline coating system deterioration and subsequent failure; •Incomplete inspection and testing regime; and •Failure to follow-up on lack of condition monitoring of a small section of gas riser.

Incident Recommendations

•Operators should ensure that inspection program results include a specific gap analysis commentary, in order to highlight any latent defects in inspection and maintenance regimes of safety-critical items and equipment.

•Operators should ensure that equipment is designed to provide adequate access for inspection & maintenance.

•Hazard identification should be conducted and appropriate precautions taken prior to responding to a potential gas release event. It is important to recognise that when responding to a potential gas release, the response to the initiating event can also contribute to harm to people.