Another Statoil Spill
Norway's Statoil has stopped all oil loadings from the Statfjord A platform in the U.K. North Sea after a spill on Sunday. The company estimates about 400 liters of crude was spilled.
Statoil released a statement : "We had a minor leak while preparing to load on Sunday. All loadings are stopped, but we don't see a need to stop the production as we have good storage capacity and flexibility to reroute oil from the field via integrated pipeline system."
Sunday's leak is the second this month at Statfjord A. On October 8, Statoil reported that about 250 barrels of oil was spilled during the loading from Statfjord A to the M/T Hilda Knutsen via the OLS loading buoy, which is located between Statfjord A and Statfjord B.
Statfjord A is one of Statoil’s oldest producing fields, and produces more than 24,000 bpd. Centrica and ExxonMobil are partners in Statfjord A. Production was supposed to end at the field a few years ago, but in 2013 they agreed to extend production until 2020. The entire Statfjord region is produces an average of 80,000 barrels of oil per day.
Following the October 8 spill, the environmental organization Bellona said it was considering taking legal action against Statoil over the spill.
“This is the third time Statoil has spilled oil on Statfjord since 2007,” said Bellona president Frederic Hauge. This could prove to be a crime against the environment, where Statoil should be fined. Bellona will contact Statoil and other relevant authorities to clarify a number of events. Based on 30 years of experience working with oil spills we consider reporting the incident to the police.”
Statoil was fined for breaking petroleum laws when it lost control of an oil well at the Gullfaks C platform in May 2010.