BV's New Academy to Meet Increased Verification Demand

Leading classification society Bureau Veritas has opened a Verification Academy which will help it to meet increasing demand for verification in the EU and globally and to cement its leadership in verification.

The Aberdeen-based academy trains both BV staff and clients in implementing the most beneficial methodology for verification of offshore installations. Bureau Veritas is the only externally accredited IVB under UKAS 17020 with respect to initial suitability and operational verification.

Matthieu de Tugny, Senior Vice-President and head of Offshore, Bureau Veritas Marine & Offshore Division, says, “We see increasing demand for independent verification services globally and especially in the EU as the new regulations come into force which extend and enhance the UK model of Safety Case regulation and verification across the EU. Our expertise was honed in the North Sea and we are using that experience to help operators globally as the Safety Case/Verification regime is adopted more widely.”

The objective of EU Directive 2013/30 is to reduce as far as possible the occurrence of major accidents related to offshore oil and gas operations, and to limit their consequences. It comes into force in July 2016 for new installations and operators planning or executing well operations and 2018 for existing installations.

The Directive enforces the implementation of the UK-style Safety Case/Verification regime throughout Europe, with the addition of environmental information such as the oil spill response gap and inclusion of information on the operator’s Safety and Environmental Management System.

“We are using our extensive experience in Verification and Safety Case regimes to work closely with legislators and Duty Holders throughout Europe and overseas to deliver a smooth transition from current legislation and ensure that clients receive the maximum benefit from the new regime,” says de Tugny.

Outside Europe BV is providing non-regulatory verification for the Eni Norge Goliat field, which is scheduled to begin production of oil from the Barents Sea in 2015 and Tullow Oil (TUWLF)’s TEN project off Ghana, amongst many others.