Gas leak alarm at Kårstø

A gas leak occurred at the Kårstø processing plant today, Wednesday 21 May. The incident was reported at 12.19 to Statoil’s emergency response unit at Kårstø. The plant’s evacuation alarm was set off.

There were 445 persons in the facility when the incident occurred. At 14:00 all of them could return to their tasks, Statoil said in a press release..

Statoil’s emergency response organisation was mobilised and the public rescue services routinely informed of the situation. Within a short period of time the emergency response team gained full control over all the personnel in the plant. The part of the facility affected has been depressurised and closed down.

Statoil said it would investigate the incident thoroughly to ascertain its immediate and underlying causes. Gassco is operator for the Kårstø processing plant, while Statoil is technical service provider.

The Kårstø processing plant north of Stavanger plays a key role in the transport and treatment of gas and condensate (light oil) from important areas on the Norwegian continental shelf.

First gas arrived at the plant on 25 June 1985, and dry gas began to be dispatched by pipeline to Emden in Germany on 15 October of the same year. The Statpipe trunkline system carries gas from the North Sea to Kårstø.

The Kårstø facility also receives gas from Åsgard and other fields in the Norwegian Sea through the Åsgard Transport trunkline. In operation since 1 October 2000, the Åsgard section of the plant processes this gas to meet sales specifications.