Statoil is to continue monitoring weather conditions after being forced to evacuate staff from a platform over storm fears at the weekend.
The Norwegian oil giant pulled 97 members of staff from the Njord A platform on Saturday as dangerous weather conditions threatened the Norwegian Sea facility.
The platform, shut in last July, was originally due to resume production in September before cracks in the structure were discovered.
Because of the increased safety risk in severe weather conditions, the staff on the platform were airlifted to Kristiansund airport.
“This gives us time to assess the weather situation ahead and will allow specialists to carry out checks of the platform’s integrity and security systems before we restore the manning of the platform to normal levels,” says Arve Rennemo, production director at Njord A.
The platform had already been emptied of any remaining oil and gas and systems shut down.
Meanwhile 32 people were rescued after firefighters put out a blaze on a cargo ship loaded with jet fuel in the North Sea yesterday.
The Britannia Seaways, containing more than 7,000litres of military jet fuel belonging to Norway’s armed forces caught alight on Saturday night, but the storm conditions delayed rescue attempts until Sunday morning.
The ship, under its own power, headed towards Bergen where rescue teams were able to extinguish the fire and the ship cleared to continue on its original route.