Hibernia restart halted by drain overflow

The restart of production at Hibernia oil field offshore Newfoundland and Labrador was halted Aug. 17 by a release of oil and water from the platform’s drain system (OGJ Online, Aug. 15, 2019).

Production of about 125,000 b/d had been shut in since July 17, when 75 bbl of crude oil leaked from a storage cell.

According to Hibernia Management & Development Co., the new release of about 14 bbl of fluid occurred when the platform lost power, making the compressed-air system unavailable. In response to a pressure drop, the deluge system designed to extinguish fire released water from the platform’s drains.

The drains overflowed onto the gravity base structure, releasing water and oil to the ocean.

HMDC deployed three response vessels for mechanical dispersion and one vessel for retrieval.