Incident Disclosure 2019

August 17, 2019 Discharge at the Hibernia Platform

August 18, 2019

Shortly after 21:00 on Saturday, August 17, 2019, the C-NLOPB was notified of an incident at the Hibernia platform where, as a result of the loss of main power generation, the facility experienced a discharge to sea when its deluge system inadvertently activated, causing drains to overflow. HMDC has confirmed that there were no issues regarding the safety of offshore personnel, and production operations were safely halted following the incident.

Based on results of an overflight of the area at first light on Sunday, August 18, with Canadian Coast Guard personnel on board, the estimated volume of oil on the water was 2,184 litres at that time. The slick was located south of the Hibernia platform, with approximate dimensions 4.0 Nautical miles long by 1.0 Nautical mile wide.

Three vessels are currently on the site undertaking spill response efforts, with additional resources in the air and a fourth vessel en route. A tracker buoy has been deployed and wildlife monitoring efforts are underway, with no reports of affected wildlife at this point.

The C-NLOPB is working closely with relevant government agencies as part of its regulatory oversight. It is not known at this point whether there is any connection between the loss of power and the August 17 discharge and the restart of production operations on August 15. The C-NLOPB will consider this as part of its regulatory oversight.

“The nature and frequency of these incidents in our offshore area are obviously concerning,” said Scott Tessier, CEO of the C-NLOPB. “The C-NLOPB is focusing its efforts on driving enhanced operator performance with respect to the prevention of spills and improvements in compliance. Decisions on enforcement actions in these matters will follow the completion of our investigations under the Atlantic Accord Implementation Acts.”

The C-NLOPB is sending personnel offshore to Hibernia and next steps in response to the August 17 incident will be determined once more information is available. Production operations are not to resume at Hibernia without the approval of the C-NLOPB.

The C-NLOPB’s investigations into the November 2018 spill by Husky Energy at the White Rose Field and the July 2019 spill at the Hibernia platform continue.

Media Contact: 

C-NLOPB
Tim Murphy
C-NLOPB Communications
(709) 778-1418
tmurphy@cnlopb.ca


Incident Disclosures 2019

DateUpdate
Dec 30, 2019Injured Worker on Terra Nova FPSO
Nov 25, 2019Helicopter Return to Base
Oct 15, 2019Near Miss on Terra Nova FPSO
Oct 3, 2019C-NLOPB approves resumption of drilling operations on Transocean Barents
Sep 26, 2019Approval of plans to resume operations at Hibernia and update on follow up to recent offshore incidents
Sep 9, 2019Injured Worker on Transocean Barents
Aug 21, 2019C-NLOPB Update on August 17, 2019 Discharge at the Hibernia Platform
Aug 18, 2019August 17, 2019 Discharge at the Hibernia Platform
Aug 16, 2019C-NLOPB approves re-start of production operations from final two drill centres at White Rose field
Aug 15, 2019C-NLOPB approves resumption of production operations at Hibernia Platform
Aug 1, 2019Update – Hibernia Oil Spill
Jul 18, 2019Hibernia Oil Spill
Jul 9, 2019Incident Bulletin – Near Miss with Potential for Fatality on Terra Nova FPSO
Jul 5, 2019Update – Follow-up to November 2018 Oil Spill at White Rose Field
Jun 4, 2019Near Miss on Hibernia Platform
May 24, 2019Flushing – South White Rose Extension Drill Centre
Mar 19, 2019Update on Plugging of Flowline and Recovery of Flowline Connector at the South White Rose Extension Drill Centre
Mar 14, 2019Near Miss Onboard Terra Nova FPSO
Mar 13, 2019Update on Plugging of Flowline and Recovery of Flowline Connector at the South White Rose Extension Drill Centre
Jan 30, 2019C-NLOPB Issues Approvals to Husky Energy
Jan 18, 2019Update – Status of Spill at White Rose Field
Jan 11, 2019Update – Status of Spill at White Rose Field
Jan 7, 2019Update – Status of Spill at White Rose Field