Exercise Draugen was based on an imagined scenario, in which the operating company OKEA lost control of a wildcat well on the Draugen field on Haltenbanken, and had to handle a blowout of 35,000 litres of oil per day.
The drill was carried out as a cooperation exercise between NOFO, OKEA and OFFB. Their common objective was to practice collaboration and communication within and between various preparedness levels in handling a long-term incident.
During the exercise, the simulated oil spill drifted northwards with the coastal current, and reached the shores of Ofoten, the south of Troms, Lofoten, Vesterålen, Salten and Rana, among other areas.
Oil spills from the Draugen field are unlikely to hit these shores. They were selected for enabling the inter-municipal committees against acute pollution (IUA) to practice on such incidents in these locations.
Personnel from several other oil companies also participated in the action management, together with key actors such as the Norwegian Coastal Administration and county governors – in addition to a number of vessels, aircrafts, drones and subcontractors.
The entire oil recovery operation was managed in accordance with the Incident Command System (ICS).
More information about Exercise Draugen and the way oil spills are handled on the Norwegian continental shelf, can be found here:
