Norwegian oil company Statoil has informed that on Saturday, October 15 a well control incident occurred off Norway on the drilling rig Songa Endurance prompting the company to evacuate non-essential personnel.
The well has been secured with a blowout preventer around the drill string on the seabed and with a valve on the rig.
Statoil said on Saturday that work was being carried out to stabilize the well and personnel without work assignments in connection with the incident was being removed from the rig.
The incident was reported to the company’s alarm center at 9:50 am CET on Saturday. There were 107 people on board when the incident occurred. No injuries were reported and there was no risk of an oil spill.
Songa Endurance was working on the G4 well in the Troll field near Troll B when complications arose. Complications occurred during the work on removing the production string from the well. The blowout preventer was then activated and the well was closed.
The company also said that there was still pressure in the well and work was being carried out to stabilize the well. Fluid for stabilizing the well was being sent out to the rig from land to be able to perform this work. These supplies were expected to arrive at the field at around 8 pm CET on Saturday evening. Extra specialists were on the way to the rig to assist those on board.
Statoil and Songa Offshore have mobilized their emergency response organizations. The emergency response vessel Stril Merkur was at the field and other resources, including helicopters, were available.
In related news, a fire broke out on Sunday aboard Statoil’s Statfjord A platform. The fire was extinguished several hours later and there were no injuries reported.