The Norwegian Ocean Industry Authority (Havtil) has issued an order to V锟絩 Energi following an audit of the company锟絪 risk assessment and qualification of automated drilling operations. The audit identified non-conformities which individually and collectively constitute serious breaches of the regulations.
锟� The audit was conducted from 10 to 12 December 2025.
锟� A notification of order was sent on 21 January 2026.
锟� The order itself was issued on 5 February 2026.
Background
Havtil has intensified its follow-up of digitalisation initiatives in the industry, in respect of operators, facility owners and suppliers alike. Notably, in recent years, we have focused on the development and implementation of automated drilling operations. The introduction of digital and automated solutions is not just about technology. In our follow-up, we focus on how the companies assess vulnerability and risk from a holistic perspective that includes humans, technology and organisation (HTO).
A lack of coherence between technology, work processes, situational awareness, human factors and technological assumptions can lead to a loss of confidence in the technology and increase the risk of failure, hazard and accident situations in critical operations.
Automation leads to changes in the roles and responsibilities of stakeholders, technical systems and people. Automated drilling systems can contribute to risk reduction and increased efficiency, for example by allowing operations to be planned and executed more consistently, and larger volumes of information to be analysed more quickly and in more detail. At the same time, automation can also introduce new risks and uncertainties. Companies are introducing new technology and automated solutions at a rapid pace. However, in our follow-up, we observe that the industry does not always succeed in adapting and changing work processes in step with the introduction of automated solutions, which can result in a lack of coherence between the technology and the work processes.
Through our supervisory activities, we have paid particular attention to how risks are assessed individually and collectively ahead of decisions on the introduction of new technology. The participants锟� responsibility for meeting the requirements for prudent activities, continuous improvements and risk reduction also applies in the event of upgrades and the introduction of new technology.
Objective
The objective of the audit was to examine how V锟絩 Energi maps and follows up on issues relating to health, safety and the environment and complies with regulatory requirements relating to risk assessment, qualification, implementation and use of automated drilling operations.
The audit emphasised decision support, criteria and processes, including risk assessments and analyses that were established and implemented to safeguard system integrity, well control and working environment factors and ensure robust operations from a holistic HTO perspective.
Result
The audit identified three non-conformities, which included:
锟� Qualification of technology
锟� Analyses
锟� Non-conformity handling
Order
The audit identified non-conformities which individually and collectively constitute serious breaches of the regulations.
On this basis, we have issued V锟絩 Energi with the following order:
Pursuant to the Framework Regulations, section 69 concerning administrative decisions, we order V锟絩 Energi to:
1. Prepare criteria for the development, testing and use of automated drilling technologies that ensure that health, safety and environmental requirements are met. It must be ensured that the criteria are representative of the current conditions of use and that the technology is adapted to already accepted solutions. The qualification must demonstrate that the applicable requirements can be met by using the technologies, with reference to the Facilities Regulations, section 9 concerning qualification and use of new technology and new methods.
2. Present a time-delimited and binding plan with specific measures to address item 1 of the order, with reference to the Management Regulations, section 12 concerning planning.
The deadline for complying with item 1 of the order is before the systems are taken into use.
The deadline for complying with item 2 of the order is 2 weeks from the date of this letter.
We are to be notified when the order has been carried out.