BP has reportedly evacuated workers from its Valhall platform in the North Sea offshore Norway. According to the Norwegian media, BP Norway has decided to fly the workers off the platform after a barge broke loose and started drifting towards BP’s offshore production facility.
According to available information, the barge in question is a 109.7 meters long, 45 meters wide Eide Barge 33, owned by Eide Marine Services.
Offshore.no, a news website covering Norway’s offshore oil and gas industry, has said that 235 workers were evacuated Thursday morning.
Another Norwegian news website, Aftenposten, has informed that the weather in the area was harsh, with high winds and waves taller than 10 meters. Reuters has reported that production from the platform continued.
Offshore Energy Today has reached out to BP, seeking more info. We will update the article should we get a response.
Death on a drilling rig
In a separate incident, also caused by harsh weather, one worker died and two other were injured on Wednesday, after a huge wave hit the COSL Innovator drilling rig in the Norwegian Sector of the North Sea. More on that here: https://bit.ly/1UhEalW