Norway’s Petroleum Safety Authority (PSA) has slammed Statoil for a hydrocarbon leak on its Gudrun platform in the North Sea on February 18 last year.
“Serious breaches of the regulations have been identified,” PSA said.
The direct cause of this incident was a leak from a rupture in a two-inch pipe in the bypass line directly downstream of the first-stage separator, PSA said.
The total emissions is estimated at 2,800 kilograms of condensate. The leak on Gudrun is regarded as one of the larger hydrocarbon escapes recorded on the Norwegian continental shelf over the past decade.
“In slightly different circumstances, the incident could have resulted in a major accident with loss of life, substantial damage to material assents and consequences for the marine environment,” PSA noted.
Statoil now has until June 1 to ensure that the Gudrun is running to PSA’s guidelines.
