Equinor shuts production from Sleipner B platform following smoke discovery

Equinor Energy AS has shut down production from its Sleipner B unmanned platform in the Sleipner Vest area of the North Sea and the platform has been depressurized following the discovery of smoke in a switchgear room at 4:40 a.m. local time on Oct 22.

Emergency vessels Skandi Mongstad and Esvagt Bergen have used seawater to cool down the platform from a distance during the day, the operator said in a late morning press release.

The vessels will remain stationed outside the unmanned platform and will monitor the situation for as long as necessary, the company said. A SAR helicopter will fly over the platform with a thermal imaging camera to monitor the situation.

Equinor said there is no danger to life and health and that the reduction in gas exports resulting from the incident “will not have any consequences for the commitments that we have made to our customers.”