Statoil confirmed it has successfully stopped a hydrocarbon leak at its Mongstad plant, two hours after first raising the alarm.
A spokesperson said: “he situation was brought quickly under control when a naphtha leakage was detected at our Mongstad plant. All the 108 people at the plant have been accounted for and no injuries have been reported.
“The incident was reported to Statoil emergency centre at 07.14 on Tuesday morning. The alarm was triggered and parts of the plant were shut down. Emergency authorities were notified and the Statoil emergency organisation was mobilised.
“At 09.02 on Tuesday morning it was reported that the leakage at the plant had stopped and the signal indicating that the danger is over was sounded.2
The energy firm has since launched an investigation into the cause.
The refinery is the largest of the two refineries in Norway, with a capacity of almost 12 million tonnes of crude oil per year. The production at Mongstad far exceeds total operating consumption in Norway and around half goes for export. The plant also produces petroleum coke, which is used for anodes in the aluminium industry. Statoil Refining AS is 100% owned by Statoil, which is also the operator.