San Francisco: An independent offshore regulator has brought charges against Canadian oil production firm Hibernia Management and Development Company (HMDC) for offences related to a spill from the company’s Hibernia platform off the coast of Newfoundland two years ago.
The Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board (C-NLOPB) has laid the charges after reviewing the methodology used by HMDC to estimate the volume of leakage that occurred when something went wrong with the offshore loading system of the Hibernia in 2013.
At the time St Johns’-headquartered HMDC put the amount at 6,000 litres spilled. It had also reported that the leak stopped on January 1, 2014.
The regulator alleges the company caused crude to spill into the ocean, failed to take all reasonable measures to prevent the spill, and restarted work, even when the spill wasn’t stopped.
Shareholders of HMDC include ExxonMobil Canada, Chevron Canada Resources, Suncor, Canada Hibernia Holding Corporation, Murphy Oil and Statoil Canada Ltd.
