Gas Leak News

Norway's Equinor plans to restart production at its Arctic liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant in Hammerfest on June 8 after it was shut down on May 31 due to a gas leak, the company said in a market message on Thursday. The facility will be unavailable until 2100 GMT on June 8, according to a message posted via the transparency page of Norwegian gas infrastructure operator Gassco. Equinor halted production after it detected a gas leak on a cooling circuit valve. The leak had been plugged late on Wednesday.

A U.S. Navy reconnaissance aircraft flew near the site of the ruptured Nord Stream 2 pipeline in the Baltic Sea hours after the first damage emerged, according to tracking reviewed by Reuters, a flight Washington said was routine.Russia's Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines burst on Sept. 26, draining gas into the Baltic Sea off the coast of Denmark and Sweden. Seismologists registered explosions in the area, and police in several countries have launched investigations.Flight data showed…

A crime scene investigation of the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines from Russia to Europe found evidence of detonations, strengthening suspicions of "gross sabotage", Sweden's Security Service said on Thursday. Swedish and Danish authorities have been investigating four leaks after the pipelines, which link Russia and Germany via the Baltic Sea and have become a flashpoint in the Ukraine crisis, were damaged at the start of last week. Europe, which used to rely on Russia for about 40% of its gas…

Unexplained gas leaks detected in the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines from Russia to Germany have prompted investigations by European countries into the cause, including possible sabotage.Denmark's armed forces on Tuesday released video showing bubbles rushing to the surface of the Baltic Sea above the pipelines, and said the largest gas leak had caused surface disturbance of well over 1 kilometer in diameter.Here is a breakdown of what is known so far:What happened?The operator of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline reported a sudden drop in pressure overnight on Monday…

The Danish authorities on Monday asked ships to steer clear of a five nautical mile radius off the island of Bornholm after a gas leak overnight from the defunct Russian-owned Nord Stream 2 pipeline drained into the Baltic Sea.The German government said it was in contact with the Danish authorities and working with local law enforcement to find out what caused pressure in the pipeline to plummet suddenly. Denmark's energy ministry declined to comment.The pipeline has been one…

Russian and Kazakh oil exports via the Caspian Pipeline Consortium's (CPC) Black Sea terminal face at least one month's disruption each once repairs begin on two of its three single point moorins (SPMs), CPC confirmed on Tuesday.Oil exports via the two SPMs have been suspended due to equipment damaged by bad winter weather, CPC said on Monday, confirming a Reuters report on Saturday.CPC added that a planned inspection of the third SPM at the Yuzhnaya Ozereyevka terminal would require it to be temporarily shut for a matter of hours.

Jordan on Sunday dismissed senior officials at the country's main Red Sea port of Aqaba port after finding gross negligence was behind the deaths of thirteen people following a chlorine gas leak at a major berth.The deaths and injury of over 300 workers came after a crane loading chlorine containers onto a ship last Monday dropped one onto the quay, causing it to explode.Jordan's cabinet took the decision to fire the director general of state-owned Aqaba Company for Ports Operation…

At least 12 people died and 251 were injured in a chlorine gas leak from a storage tank at Jordan's Aqaba port, officials and state media reported on Monday.The leak came after a tank filled with 25 tonnes of chlorine gas being exported to Djibouti fell while being transported, officials said.A video posted on state television's Twitter page showed a storage tank falling from a winch and slamming into the deck of a ship, followed by yellow-colored gas rising into the air as people ran away.Health ministry officials said they expected only a handful of people to remain hospitalized by Tuesday.C

Royal Dutch Shell Plc shut production at its Prelude floating liquefied natural gas (LNG) site and Chevron Corp shut one of three processing units at its Gorgon LNG plant, both off northwestern Australia, the companies said on Friday.The Gorgon and Prelude outages are expected to boost spot LNG prices, which are up about 20% from a month ago.Shell said Prelude was hit by a power outage on Thursday after smoke was detected in an electrical utility area, and the facility is operating on back-up diesel generators.

One person died and five went missing after a fire broke out Sunday on a Pemex offshore platform in the Campeche Bay, Mexico.The fire broke out at the E-Ku-A2 platform at Pemex's Ku-Maloob-Zaap oil field at 3:10 pm Sunday and was brought under control an hour later.Pemex said that one person died, six people were injured, and five went missing. Pemex said it was conducting a search and rescue operation, as well as working damage assessment and stabilization of the integrity of…

A fire on the ocean surface west of Mexico's Yucatan peninsula early on Friday has been extinguished, state oil company Pemex said, blaming a gas leak from an underwater pipeline for sparking the blaze captured in videos that went viral.Bright orange flames jumping out of water resembling molten lava was dubbed an "eye of fire" on social media due to the blaze's circular shape, as it raged a short distance from a Pemex oil platform.The fire took more than five hours to fully put out…

At least seven ships have caught fire at Iran’s Bushehr port, the Tasnim news agency reported on Wednesday, in what appeared to be the latest in a series of fires and explosions around the country, some of which have hit sensitive sites.No casualties have been reported, the agency said.Plumes of dense black smoke billowed into the air, in a photograph of the incident published by the official IRNA news agency. State broadcaster IRIB showed fighters tackling clouds of smoke at a shipyard at the southern port on the Gulf.There have been several explosions and fires around Iranian military…

Danish inventor Peter Madsen was sentenced to life in prison on Wednesday for murdering, sexually mutilating and dismembering a Swedish female journalist with premeditation aboard his home-made submarine in Copenhagen harbor in 2017.Madsen, dressed entirely in black, sat motionless as the Copenhagen City Court handed down its verdict in a grisly case straight from the pages of a dark Scandinavian psycho-thriller.Already well known in Denmark for his submarines and his plan to send a human into space in a home-made rocket…

A methanol plant in the Libyan oil port of Brega has stopped operations after an accidental explosion caused by a gas leak, an official said on Tuesday.   The plant will remain shut until safe operations can be guaranteed, but it was not clear how long this would take, said Issa Mukhtar, an official at Sirte Oil Company which runs the plant.   One worker was injured by the explosion which occurred early on Saturday and was caused by a leak in a natural gas heating unit, Libya's National Oil Corporation (NOC) said.   Firefighters dealt with the blast, which could be heard across the surrounding area, a Sirte Oil engineer said. (Reporting by Ayman al-Warfalli Writing by Aidan Lewis; editing by David Evans)

Asian liquefied natural gas (LNG) spot prices jumped this week in reaction to volatile price spikes on European gas markets and ongoing demand from the region's major consumers. Spot prices for January delivery hit $10.50 per mmBtu, 40 cents above last week, with February prices seeing similar levels. In a tumultuous week, European gas prices gyrated wildly following a flurry of major pipeline and production outages coinciding with high demand and freezing weather. The rally began…

Two people, including a sailor, were killed and two others injured after inhaling toxic fumes on board India's aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya at Karwar Naval base in Karnataka. The condition of two others injured was stable and constantly being monitored in the Naval Hospital, Karwar, said officials. "The incident of gas leakage took place yesterday evening while the ship was undergoing maintenance repairs in the sewage treatment plant compartment," said a statement issued by Indian navy. Inducted into the Indian Navy two years back, the 45,000 tonne naval ship witnessed the first accident at 5.00 pm on Friday whilst the ship was undergoing maintenance repairs at the naval base. The Navy has ordered an inquiry into the incident.

Gazprom was announced the winner of the All-Russian Green Development – Evolution Awards 2016 in the Best Green Tech Solution category. The award was presented by competition committee chairman Sergey Donskoy, Minister of Natural Resources and Environment of the Russian Federation. The Company was awarded for developing and introducing technologies that ensure high energy efficiency and reduce specific greenhouse gas emissions. These technologies include the use of mobile compressor stations without venting gas to the atmosphere from the gas pipeline section under repair. Another gas saving technology is hot tapping, which allows for making a connection to an operating gas pipeline without shutting the system down or venting gas.

The gas leak occurring at the Kårstø processing plant Thursday night has now been stopped. The situation is returning to normal and external resources from the emergency services have been demobilised. It is too early to say anything about the cause of the incident, which will be investigated. The leak occurred on the Statpipe section leading into the plant. Both Statpipe production trains have been stopped. The incident did not lead to any physical injuries. During normalisation and start-up of the plant following the incident last night, a smaller leak occurred, which is not usual during run-up of plant sections. The leak has been identified and is under control. The situation did not involve mobilisation of external resources.

The pressure is starting to fall and work is continuing on depressurising the facility. The gas leak occurred in the Statpipe-facility where the gas pipelines connect to the facility for processing. There may be visible flames (controlled burn-off of gas) from the three process flares at the facility while this continues. All personnel have been accounted for and there is now only a skeleton crew of 25 people who are at the facility to manage the incident. The cause of the incident has not as yet been determined. At 10:30 pm on Thursday night, a gas leak was reported at Kårstø processing plant. The emergency services and authorities have been notified about the situation and Statoil’s emergency response organisation has been established.

With most offshore wells in Brazil located between 30 and 300 km from the coast, communication with offshore assets has not always been straightforward or reliable. Some operators and service providers still use traditional maritime VSAT services for coverage offshore Brazil, yet the introduction of Microwave radio has led to a much better level of quality and reliability in high-bandwidth voice and data communications. Claudio Paschoa, Maritime Reporter’s correspondent in Brazil had an interesting conversation with Arild Fotland, head of Ceragon’s Oil and Gas Division, about the advantages of Microwave radio communications for offshore operations in Brazil. Fotland joined Ceragon in 1978 and has been stationed all over the world.

Mexico's state-owned oil company Pemex said on Tuesday that it was working to control a gas leak at the Sihil A platform in the Gulf of Mexico.   Eighty-five workers have been evacuated, Pemex said in a tweet, but there were no injuries and no fire has been reported.   The leak started around at around 0200 GMT, or 9 pm local time, a Pemex spokesman said.     (Reporting by Joanna Zuckerman Bernstein and Jean Luis Arce; Editing by Biju Dwarakanath)

Two workers died at a construction project at a Brazilian oil terminal operated by state-run Petrobras on Tuesday, adding to a string of fatal and life-threatening accidents, a union representing oil workers said in a statement. The workers drowned after scaffolding they were erecting collapsed at the end of a pier operated by Transpetro, Petrobras' pipeline and shipping unit, the union, known as FUP, said. The pier was at Transpetro's Barra do Riacho Terminal in Espirito Santo state. The employees were wearing security belts even though work authorizations recommended that the employees only use life-jackets, FUP said. Locked to the scaffolding by the belts, they were dragged under water when the scaffolding fell.

An oil platform run by Mexico’s state oil company Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) in the southern Gulf of Mexico suffered what appeared to be an explosion on Monday. Pemex confirmed that there had been an “accident” and a “fire” after a leak of oil and gas, while local media called it an “explosion”. The company claimed to have contained the oil and gas leak that appears to have sparked a fire on its satellite oil platform. However, it said any impact on output remained unclear. Local media said there was an explosion and a fire on the platform. The platform, Akal-H, is part of the Akal field complex, one of the most productive areas within Cantarell, which in the late 1970s was one of the world's top-producing oil fields.