Five workers have been hospitalised in Norway after an incident at the Sture terminal in Hordaland, Statoil has said.
Statoil said the employees were exposed to hydrogen sulphide gas at treatment facility for oily water inside the terminal on Wednesday.
They were taken to Haukeland Hospital and their relatives were informed.
Statoil said the area had been cordoned off and that any further risk of exposure had been nullified.
The company said in a statement: “The police have commenced an investigation and, together with the Petroleum Safety Authority Norway, will conduct further investigations on Thursday.
“It is still too early to provide information about the cause of the incident. Statoil will also carry out its own investigations to determine how this could have occurred.”
Sture is an important port for crude oil shipments. The terminal receives crude oil and condensate from the Oseberg area through a 115 kilometre oil pipeline and crude oil from the Grane field and Edvard Grieg field through a 212 kilometre oil pipeline.