Maersk Oil Reports Fire at its Platform Offshore Qatar

At 02:46 on 21 April a fire broke out on the Maersk Oil Qatar operated AD accommodation platform in the Al Shaheen field, 80 km north of Qatar.

The fire which took place in the emergency generator room has been extinguished and the situation is under control. All employees are safe and accounted for with no serious injuries. Our primary concern remains the safety and wellbeing of our personnel and those affected by the situation. All non-essential personnel have been evacuated from the platform and crisis counselling made available.

The cause of the fire is unknown and an investigation is underway to establish the root cause. However, 3 days prior to the incident production at A-Location had been shut-down for planned maintenance work. As a result no hydrocarbons were present at the time. There has been no environmental impact as a result of the incident.

Maersk Oil Qatar operates the Al Shaheen field on behalf of Qatar Petroleum. Currently there are 1008 personnel working offshore with 242 working at A-Location.

About Maersk Oil

Maersk Oil is a medium-sized international oil and gas company with operated production of about 700,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day from fields in the Danish and UK North Sea, offshore Qatar, in Algeria and in Kazakhstan. Maersk Oil exploration activities are ongoing offshore Norway, Angola, Brazil, the US Gulf of Mexico and Oman. Maersk Oil and its subsidiary companies are part of the Danish A.P. Moller – Maersk Group. Maersk Oil was established in 1962, when it was awarded a concession for oil and gas exploration and production in Denmark.

Maersk Oil Qatar began operations in Qatar in 1992, when an Exploration and Production Sharing Agreement (EPSA) was signed with Qatar to develop the Al Shaheen Field in Block 5, offshore Qatar. Maersk Oil Qatar’s 2005 Field Development Plan (2005 FDP) encompasses the drilling of more than 160 production and water injection wells over a six year period. The plan also includes the construction and offshore installation of fifteen new platforms with accommodation and production facilities, which is now complete. Production from the field is 300,000 barrels of oil per day.

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Source:Maersk oil , April 21,2011