Hibernia officials say 75 barrels of oil—the equivalent of 12,000 litres—was spilled into the environment yesterday from the Hibernia platform.

The release occurred during what officials say were routine activities related to removing water from one of the platform’s storage cells.

Aerial surveillance resulted in the estimated volume of oil released from the platform. The surveillance flights were carried out by PAL and included an independent regulatory observer.

President of HMDC, Scott Sandlin says they’re disappointed with the discharge and are working diligently to minimize the impacts to the environment.

A boom type system has been deployed over the side of a vessel to collect oil from the surface, a skimmer is then used to collect the oil and store it on the vessel for disposal according to waste management regulations.

A sorbent boom, a tracking buoy and more surveillance flights have been initiated. No wildlife has been observed in the area.

Earlier Story

Production has been temporarily shut down on the Hibernia platform following the release of oil and water into the ocean yesterday.

President of Hibernia Management and Development Company, Scott Sandlin says they decided to proactively shut down production on a temporary basis to resolve an issue with one of the platform’s storage cells.

Officials have not said how much oil ended up in the environment, but a 20 by 500-metre sheen, which has since dissipated, was observed on the water yesterday.

Wildlife officers are en route. No wildlife was observed in the area from a surveillance flight carried out yesterday.

The matter is under investigation.