The Melkøya facility — archive photo. (Photo: Øyvind Hagen, StatoilHydro)
The pipe where the leak was identified was immediately depressurized and emptied of gas by flaring. No one was injured in the incident, but everyone working in the area was routinely evacuated to the mustering area at Melkøya.
The site of the leak was secured and the leak stopped at 4.15 pm. The situation was quickly normalised and employees returned to work.
"Production from the facility was already stopped at the time of the leak due to a fault in an electric motor in the cooling plant," says Production Director for Snøhvit, Edvin Ytredal.
It is expected that the faults will be quickly rectified and that production will be resumed in a few days.