By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, May 4 -- Statoil ASA has resumed drilling a wildcat on its Guovca prospect in the Barents Sea after a 3-week halt due to a leak of about 1 cu m of hydraulic oil on Apr. 12. The well was initially expected to be complete by May 1 (OGJ Online, Apr. 7, 2005).
Statoil and the Petroleum Safety Authority Norway have completed separate investigations that revealed failures in Ocean Rig's Eirik Raude semisubmersible's monitoring system and that the direct cause of the leak was a ruptured hose.
Statoil has checked all hoses and systems and replaced the damaged hydraulic hose. It has also added an extra drilling engineer to the crew.
The group carried out an impact assessment of the leak, which shows that there was no effect on the marine environment.