Equinor Conducts Partial Evacuation of North Sea Platform After Well Incident

Norwegian energy giant Equinor has partially evacuated personnel from its Gullfaks C platform and halted production operations.

The company attributed the action to a “well control incident,” but assured that the situation is currently “stable.”

A spokesperson for Equinor informed Energy Voice that, as a precautionary measure, workers not involved in critical tasks were removed from the platform.

The state-owned enterprise did not specify when production on Gullfaks C would resume, but confirmed that operations on the other Gullfaks platforms remain unaffected.

Norway’s gas system operator reported on its website that gas production capacity at the Gullfaks field is expected to decrease by 6.6 million cubic metres per day starting Monday.

Situated in block 34/10 in the northern sector of the North Sea, the Gullfaks field comprises three platforms, with Gullfaks C being the latest addition.

Gullfaks A began production on December 22, 1986, followed by Gullfaks B on February 29, 1988, and Gullfaks C on November 4, 1989. The Tordis oil field has been linked to Gullfaks C since June 1994.

Equinor has been asked to confirm the number of personnel evacuated on Sunday.

Image credit: Gullfaks