OSLO - An oil spill at the large Statfjord oilfield in the North Sea shut about 138,000 barrels per day of production on Saturday and triggered the evacuation of workers, but the leak has been stopped, operator StatoilHydro said.
"It was a serious situation, but it is now under control," StatoilHydro's spokesman Ola Morten Aanestad said.
No one was hurt and the spill was limited, the company said.
The coast guard said weather at sea was favourable for a clean-up and the environmental impact likely to be small.
Production was stopped at the Statfjord A platform where the leak occurred and at the nearby Snorre A platform and Vigdis field linked to Statfjord, Aanestad said.
Earlier, StatoilHydro (STL.OL: Quote, Profile, Research) evacuated 156 out of 217 workers from Statfjord A to the Statfjord B and C platforms after the leak from a storage tank during work on a pipe.
"The leak from the tank on Statfjord A has been stopped, and the pumping of oil-containing water to sea has also been stopped," StatoilHydro, Norway's biggest oil and gas producer, said in a statement.
"For safety reasons, a total of around 1,200 cubic metres of oil-containing water were pumped to sea early this morning," the company said. "This was done to ensure safety on board the platform following a leak in a pipe inside one of the shafts of the installation."
The spilled volume is equal to about 7,550 barrels.
The pumping of the oily water has now been stopped, and the oil concentration in the water is limited, StatoilHydro said.
"As a result of the pumping, there is a thin oil film around the Statfjord A platform and measures have been implemented to collect it," the company said.
"Oil protection equipment and oil booms are being deployed. The weather conditions in the area are good," it added.
StatoilHydro initially described the situation as "serious and confused", but later played down the seriousness of the spill which was the second at Statfjord in the past five and a half months. In mid-December, about 27,700 barrels of oil were spilled during a loading operation at Statfjord A.
"It was a serious incident because there was gas in the shaft so we had to evacuate the people," Aanestad said.
But he said the environmental impact was likely to be minor.
"I do not think that will be very serious, it is mainly water," he said. "It is a very thin spill, it looks like a blue sign in the water and not like a brown oil slick."
Coast guard duty officer Ola Bjerkmo said the slick measured about 2 kilometres by 1.5 km around the platform.
"The weather conditions are good for oil recovery," Bjerkmo told Reuters. "Based on the size of the spill and the information we have so far, we don't think that the environmental impact is considerable but that is a question for the operator and for follow-up studies."
STATFJORD, SNORRE, VIGDIS AFFECTED
The ageing Statfjord field, which straddles the Norwegian-UK boundary line, was once the biggest oilfield in the North Sea. Production from three platforms has fallen from a 1987 peak of 850,000 barrels to about 150,000-160,000 barrels per day.
Oil is also produced from satellite fields tied to Statfjord, bringing total output from the platforms to around 470,000-480,000 bpd.
The leak caused a shutdown of about 19,000 bpd at the Statfjord A platform where it occurred and also shut roughly 119,000 bpd of production from the nearby Snorre A platform and the Vigdis field, Aanestad said.
The Snorre A and Vigdis volumes were affected because the oil from those installations is processed at Statfjord A.
About 44,000 bpd of Vigdis oil normally goes to StatoilHydro's Gullfaks field and can probably be rerouted there from Monday, Aanestad said.
He gave no estimate for when the Statfjord A and Snorre A output would be restored. "We won't restart production before we know everything is safe," Aanestad said.
"It was a serious situation, but it is now under control," StatoilHydro's spokesman Ola Morten Aanestad said.
No one was hurt and the spill was limited, the company said.
The coast guard said weather at sea was favourable for a clean-up and the environmental impact likely to be small.
Production was stopped at the Statfjord A platform where the leak occurred and at the nearby Snorre A platform and Vigdis field linked to Statfjord, Aanestad said.
Earlier, StatoilHydro (STL.OL: Quote, Profile, Research) evacuated 156 out of 217 workers from Statfjord A to the Statfjord B and C platforms after the leak from a storage tank during work on a pipe.
"The leak from the tank on Statfjord A has been stopped, and the pumping of oil-containing water to sea has also been stopped," StatoilHydro, Norway's biggest oil and gas producer, said in a statement.
"For safety reasons, a total of around 1,200 cubic metres of oil-containing water were pumped to sea early this morning," the company said. "This was done to ensure safety on board the platform following a leak in a pipe inside one of the shafts of the installation."
The spilled volume is equal to about 7,550 barrels.
The pumping of the oily water has now been stopped, and the oil concentration in the water is limited, StatoilHydro said.
"As a result of the pumping, there is a thin oil film around the Statfjord A platform and measures have been implemented to collect it," the company said.
"Oil protection equipment and oil booms are being deployed. The weather conditions in the area are good," it added.
StatoilHydro initially described the situation as "serious and confused", but later played down the seriousness of the spill which was the second at Statfjord in the past five and a half months. In mid-December, about 27,700 barrels of oil were spilled during a loading operation at Statfjord A.
"It was a serious incident because there was gas in the shaft so we had to evacuate the people," Aanestad said.
But he said the environmental impact was likely to be minor.
"I do not think that will be very serious, it is mainly water," he said. "It is a very thin spill, it looks like a blue sign in the water and not like a brown oil slick."
Coast guard duty officer Ola Bjerkmo said the slick measured about 2 kilometres by 1.5 km around the platform.
"The weather conditions are good for oil recovery," Bjerkmo told Reuters. "Based on the size of the spill and the information we have so far, we don't think that the environmental impact is considerable but that is a question for the operator and for follow-up studies."
STATFJORD, SNORRE, VIGDIS AFFECTED
The ageing Statfjord field, which straddles the Norwegian-UK boundary line, was once the biggest oilfield in the North Sea. Production from three platforms has fallen from a 1987 peak of 850,000 barrels to about 150,000-160,000 barrels per day.
Oil is also produced from satellite fields tied to Statfjord, bringing total output from the platforms to around 470,000-480,000 bpd.
The leak caused a shutdown of about 19,000 bpd at the Statfjord A platform where it occurred and also shut roughly 119,000 bpd of production from the nearby Snorre A platform and the Vigdis field, Aanestad said.
The Snorre A and Vigdis volumes were affected because the oil from those installations is processed at Statfjord A.
About 44,000 bpd of Vigdis oil normally goes to StatoilHydro's Gullfaks field and can probably be rerouted there from Monday, Aanestad said.
He gave no estimate for when the Statfjord A and Snorre A output would be restored. "We won't restart production before we know everything is safe," Aanestad said.
