Two Injured in Offshore Explosion

Two Equinor employees were injured when a portable nitrogen gas bottle exploded on board the Heimdal platform in the North Sea on Thursday November 28.

The two injured employees, a man (22) and a woman (19), were taken care of by health personnel on board Heimdal and were transported to Haukeland University Hospital and Stavanger University Hospital. Their injuries are not life-threatening. 

“This is a serious work-related incident that has strongly affected all of us. Our main priority now is to keep following up and supporting our injured personnel and their next-of-kin. Their colleagues on Heimdal, where the incident occurred, are also being taken care of and we have sent extra personnel offshore to support them,” says Arne Sigve Nylund, executive vice president for Development and Production Norway.

There were 70 personnel on board the platform when the incident occurred.

It is too early to say something about the cause of the incident, says Equinor. The Petroleum Safety Authority Norway and the police have travelled to the platform to start their investigations.

“We have also initiated an internal investigation, and we are helping the police and other relevant authorities carry out their investigations in the best possible way,” says Nylund.

He adds that a controlled production shutdown on Heimdal is planned.

Heimdal is a gas field west of Sveio in Hordaland county, in the northern part of the North Sea, north of Johan Sverdrup and south of Oseberg, near the border with the U.K. shelf. Current Heimdal partners are Equinor (29.4 percent - operator), Petoro (20.0 percent), Total E&P Norge (16.7 percent), Spirit Energy (28.8 percent) and LOTOS Exploration and Production (5.0 percent).