Police Investigate 2016 Hydrogen Leak at Statoil Refinery
Norwegian police have launched an investigation into a hydrogen gas leak at Statoil's Mongstad refinery in October 2016, the company said on Friday. Statoil temporarily shut and evacuated its main refinery on Norway's west coast when a rusted pipe socket ruptured. The firm's own investigation found the resulting leak was caused by insufficient maintenance and a poor understanding of risk. While nobody was injured, the leak could have been fatal if the gas had ignited, Statoil's probe concluded. "The October 2016 leak is being investigated by police and ... we are cooperating," a company spokeswoman said. She declined to provide to further details.
PSA Norway Finds Shortcomings after Maersk Rig Accident
* Denmark's Maersk Drilling, a subsidiary of conglomerate A.P. * One person died following an accident on the Maersk-owned drilling rig at Aker BP's Tambar oilfield off Norway on Dec. * "The joint investigation team of Maersk Drilling and AkerBP is working to identify the circumstances surrounding the tragic incident," said Jakob Korsgaard, managing director of Maersk Drilling Norway, in a separate statement. * The deadline for compliance with the order is Feb. 28.
Norway Appeals Court Clears Transocean in Tax-evasion Case
Offshore rig firm Transocean was cleared of accusations of tax evasion in a civilian case brought by the Norwegian state, a Norwegian appeals court said in a verdict on Monday. By reversing the verdict made by a lower court, Transocean avoided claims of about 400 million Norwegian crowns ($47 million) to the Norwegian tax authorities. In January, Norwegian police said they had dropped a planned appeal in a criminal case against Transocean declaring that the company and its advisers were considered innocent in the decade-long tax fraud case. The civilian case was based on the same foundation as the criminal case, the court said in the verdict.
Norway Drops Transocean Tax Charges
Norwegian police said on Thursday they have dropped a planned appeal in a decade-long tax fraud case against Swiss-based offshore drilling firm Transocean , declaring that the company and its advisers are now considered innocent. The decision followed the replacement last week of the lead prosecutor in the case. Transocean and three individuals were acquitted by Oslo's district court in July 2014, and the prosecution's demand for 1.8 billion Norwegian crowns ($204 million) in damages was dismissed. The National Authority for Investigation and Prosecution…
Gas Alarm Shutters Norway's Snoehvit LNG Plant
Production at Norway's Snoehvit liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant was stopped on Tuesday due to a gas leak and the duration of the outage was unknown, operator Statoil said. "The production at the plant has been stopped and we don't know when it can be restarted again," Statoil's spokesman Oerjan Heradstveit said. The gas alarm has triggered evacuation of workers from the affected areas at Europe's only LNG plant, the Norwegian police said earlier. Reporting by Nerijus Adomaitis
Norway Appeals Transocean Tax Fraud Case Decision
Transocean, advisers had been acquitted of all charges; Norway appeals parts of the decision. Norway is appealing a decision by an Oslo court to acquit Swiss-based rig firm Transocean and some of its advisers of tax fraud in connection with shifting assets between affiliated companies, the police economic crimes investigation unit said. On July 2 the Oslo district court acquitted several Transocean subsidiaries and three individual advisers of all charges. It also dismissed the prosecution's demand for 1.8 billion crowns ($290.7 million) in damages. Instead it asked the Norwegian state to pay the defendants' costs, which were 41 million crowns.
Norway Rejects Greenpeace Appeal over Arctic Drilling
Norwegian authorities have rejected an appeal by Greenpeace to stop Statoil from drilling the world's most northerly well on the Apollo prospect in the Barents Sea, the Norwegian oil company said on Friday. The company's announcement that it has been given approval to start drilling comes a day after Norwegian police removed seven Greenpeace protesters who had boarded the rig in an attempt to prevent it from reaching the Barents Sea and Bear Island, an uninhabited wildlife sanctuary that is home to rare species, including polar bears. “Greenpeace has once again performed an illegal action.
Greenpeace Activists in Hands of Police
The activists on board the Transocean Spitsbergen are now in the hands of Norwegian police. The rig was on its way for planned exploration drilling in the Hoop-area in the Barents Sea when Greenpeace activists boarded the rig in the early hours of Tuesday, 27 May. Statoil is very pleased that the illegal action on the rig now has ended without anyone being injured. The rig will now prepare for transit to the drilling site for the Apollo well in the Hoop area. Statoil has a permit to start the drilling operations, but awaits a final decision on a Greenpeace appeal to the Norwegian Ministry of climate and environment before drilling into oil-bearing layers.
