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BP Orders Complete Evacuation of Valhall Field in North Sea

BYReuters
December 31, 2015, 10:42 AM UTC
BP Plc Headquarters And Petrol Stations
An illuminated sign stands on the forecourt of a BP gas station, operated by BP Plc, in Upminster, U.K., on Thursday, Feb. 28, 2013. BP Plc's push to maximize profits and cut costs at the Macondo well was a "root cause" of the explosion that led to the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill, a safety expert who studied the disaster said. Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Photograph by Chris Ratcliffe — Bloomberg/Getty Images

BP said it ordered a total evacuation of its Valhall platform in the North Sea on Thursday after a barge broke its anchor and was drifting towards the installation following a storm.

“The barge has changed direction and BP has decided to shut production (at Valhall) and there will be a total demanning of the platform. There are 71 people left on the platform and they are being evacuated as we speak,” a BP (BP) spokesman told Reuters.

Update 12/31

A drifting barge has missed BP’s Valhall platform in the North Sea by some two kilometres, a spokeswoman for the Rescue Coordination Centre for southern Norway told Reuters.

“The barge drifted past by some two kilometres. The danger is over. There are no other installations between the barge and the coast of Norway,” Borghild Eldoen said in an interview.

“It is now up to the owners of the barge to stop it before it reaches the coast.”