On March 3, 2015, Statoil reported conducting a manual disconnect of the West Hercules drilling rig from the P-78 well and an uncontrolled discharge of synthetic based mud (SBM), or drilling mud, to the sea. The decision to disconnect was made by Statoil due to weather conditions.

Manual disconnection from the well includes the activation of the blowout preventer shear rams to cut the drill string. The part of the drill string above the blowout preventer contains a residual volume of approximately 14 cubic metres (14,000 litres) of SBM. The exact volume discharged to sea will be confirmed once the full drill string is retrieved to the rig when weather conditions permit this operation.

There were no injuries or well control issues associated with this incident and emergency response was not activated. The West Hercules has been moved to the safe handling area and operations have been suspended while waiting on weather.

Media Contacts:

Statoil Canada Ltd:
Alex Collins
Acting Lead, Communications
T. (709) 738-8644
C. (709) 769-8967
acoll@statoil.com

C-NLOPB:
Sean Kelly M.A., APR, FCPRS
Manager of Public Relations
t. (709) 778-1418
c. (709) 689-0713
skelly@cnlopb.ca