StatoilHydro says oil leaking at North Sea field

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Norwegian energy group StatoilHydro reported a serious oil leak at its Statfjord oilfield in the North Sea on Saturday and said it evacuated all but emergency workers from platform A where oil is still leaking. "The situation is serious and confused," StatoilHydro said in a statement. No one is hurt or missing and clean-up crews have been mobilized to deal with the spill, the company said.

OSLO (Reuters) - Norwegian energy group StatoilHydro reported a serious oil leak at its Statfjord oilfield in the North Sea on Saturday and said it evacuated all but emergency workers from platform A where oil is still leaking.

"The situation is serious and confused," StatoilHydro said in a statement. No one is hurt or missing and clean-up crews have been mobilized to deal with the spill, the company said.

Two workers who were exposed to gas have received medical care and are feeling well after being removed to the B platform, it said.

"Oil is leaking from one or several storage cells. For safety reasons the oil is now being discharged to sea," StatoilHydro said.

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No information was immediately available on any production impact.

"During work on a pipe on the platform an oil leak occurred in one of the three shafts," it added.

There were 217 people on board when the leak occurred, the company said. "All personnel, apart from the emergency response team, have been evacuated."

The ageing Statfjord oilfield, which straddles the Norwegian-UK boundary line, was once the biggest oilfield in the North Sea. Production from three platforms has fallen from a 1987 peak of 850,000 barrels to roughly 150,000-160,000 barrels of oil per day.

Oil is also produced from satellite fields tied to Statfjord, bringing total output from the platforms to about 470,000-480,000 barrels per day.

(Reporting by John Acher; editing by James Jukwey)