By Kjetil Malkenes Hovland
OSLO--Norwegian oil and gas company Statoil ASA (STO) said
Wednesday it was evacuating 374 workers from the Floatel Superior
housing platform at the Njord field in the Norwegian Sea after it
listed 4 degrees due to a hole in a ballast tank.
The personnel on the floating hotel are being evacuated to other
installations nearby. An emergency vessel and six helicopters were
mobilized to evacuate the workers to Kristiansund on the west coast
of Norway after the leak, which happened around 03:40 local
time.
The platform has been stabilized, and an anchor handling vessel
is mobilized to inspect the damage on the floating hotel, Statoil
said.
The Njord A field was closed for maintenance and is not
currently producing or processing any oil and gas.
The field is operated by Statoil with a 20% stake. GDF Suez S.A.
(GSZ.FR) has a 40% stake, E.ON AG has a 30% stake, Faroe Petroleum
PLC (FPM.LN) a 7.5% stake and VNG Norge AS a 2.5% stake.
The floating hotel is operated by the company Floatel
International.
Statoil shares traded 0.6% higher at NOK140.00.
Write to Kjetil Malkenes Hovland at
kjetilmalkenes.hovland@dowjones.com
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires