Fire shuts Troll B

A fire broke out aboard the Statoil-operated Troll B platform, offshore Norway, on Monday, September 1.

According to the Norwegian news website Aftenbladet.no, smoke entered the room after a switch on a platform in the North Sea caught fire. Production was immediately shut.

The Stavanger-based website quoted a Statoil spokesperson who said that no injuries to the 67 workers aboard occurred. He added that fire was extinguished quickly and production was restored on the same day.

Statoil did not immediately respond to an e-mail seeking comment, sent by Offshore Energy Today.

Troll B, a floating process and accommodation platform with concrete hull produces from thin oil-bearing layers in the Troll West reservoir.

The Troll field lies in the northern part of the North Sea, around 65 kilometres west of Kollsnes, near Bergen.

Also, in August, Statoil decided to shut production from the nearby Troll C platform, after an inspection programme on the platform detected corrosion damage to a pipe connected to the oil export system.

Update:

Statoil’s spokesperson Ørjan Heradstveit has confirmed the event occurred on the platform on Monday.

In an e-mail sent to Offshore Energy Today, Heradstveit said that, following the fire outbreak, “electrical personnel on the platform shut off the supply, and the area was cleared quickly.”

“Personnel mustered at the lifeboats.  There were no injuries among the 67 who were on board.  Production was resumed the same afternoon.”