From Aberdeen (IF): The UK government has rejected a call for a public inquiry into commercial pressures on HELICOPTER SAFETY in the North Sea.

The House of Commons Transport Select Committee launched a probe into offshore helicopter safety following the crash off Shetland in August last year (SEN, 31/8), the fifth accident in four years.

The committee had also asked for the inquiry to examine the role and effectiveness of the CAA, the UK aviation regulator, but the government said that there was no evidence that safety is being compromised as a result of commercial pressure from the industry.

‘It is true that competition for contracts, particularly...(when)...offered at short notice or awarded at a lower price, may impact on the ability of the operator to recruit and train for a new commitment, but there is no evidence to suggest this is the case.

‘The committee’s report states that helicopter operators do not support the accusation that commercial pressure from their customers affects the safety of their operations and hotly dispute the suggestion made by BALPA (the pilots’ association).

‘It is important for the CAA and industry to be given time to implement the recommendations from the CAA’s offshore review. In the circumstances, the government does not support the call for a public inquiry.’

The government was noted that the committee found no evidence that the Super Puma helicopter is less safe than other helicopters used in the UK sector and that there is also no evidence to suggest that UK operations are less safe than elsewhere, particularly Norway, who operate under a similar safety regime in the same hostile North Sea environment.

ISRAEL and CYPRUS are both having to their backs in the tough political world of the eastern Mediterranean. Cyprus is trying to fend off Turkey from blocking plans to develop newly found gas reserves and the little loved Israelis have backed their neighbours. They are also trying to link current gas developments offshore Israel with the Cypriot find. This could involve processing facilities or pipelines.

Israel has its own problems as the government of Jordan this week threw doubt on the plans by several Jordanian companies (30/23) to import gas from its neighbour. It was suggested that Israel might not be a dependable supplier as Egypt has not been in the past.

Meanwhile Noble Energy has filed a plan for development with the Israeli authorities for Leviathan (31/14) which will call for both an fpso and a floating LNG vessel.

This was after the Supreme Court ruled Noble could export 40% of its Leviathan production or 270bcm plus another 57bcm from Tamar where it expects to boost production with the addition of 20bcm from Tamar SW.