Nobody was injured when fire broke out in a main generator on the Åsgard B platform in the Norwegian Sea earlier today, 27 April. The fire has now been extinguished.
The extent of the material damage is so far unknown. Gas production has been shut down and it is not clear when it will be started up again. Gas customers on the European continent are not affected, since other fields on the Norwegian continental shelf will supply the contracted volumes.
The fire alarm was sounded at 08.45. Those of the 119 crew members not assigned to stand-by duties assembled in the lifeboats in accordance with procedures. Production was shut down, and at 09.25 the fire was extinguished and the crew could leave the lifeboats.
"We treat this incident seriously," says Thor Haakon Helgesen, senior vice president for the Halten/Nordland area .
He adds that Statoil will immediately set up an internal group to investigate the incident.