Norway’s national oil company, Equinor, is facing a £53m penalty for oil spills and gas leaks at the oil-rich Scandinavian state’s only refinery, which officials said were the result of years of inadequate maintenance.
Norway’s economic crime agency, Økokrim, said it had taken action against Equinor over “extensive and long-term pollution” at the refinery in Mongstad, on Norway’s North Sea coast.
The penalty consists of a fine of 220m kroner (£16m), in addition to a confiscation order of 500m kroner (£37m).
“Økokrim takes the matter very seriously, which is reflected in the size of the fine,” the agency said in a statement. “The confiscation amount is the highest ever, and the fine the second highest ever for a Norwegian company.”
The investigation began in 2020, after reports by the Norwegian environmental NGO Bellona of oil leaks at the Mongstad refinery. “We saw a company in deep systemic crisis,” said Frederic Hauge, Bellona’s founder. “We reported the case because it was obviously only a matter of time before a serious accident would occur.”
Økokrim said it had established that a number of leaks took place at Mongstad between 2016 and 2021. “The most serious case involved the release of 40 tons of gas consisting of, among other things, hydrogen sulphide in high concentrations,” said Maria Bache Dahl, the state attorney who prosecuted the case.
“The release represented a risk of fatal outcome for several employees at the plant. Økokrim believes that it was only coincidence that no one was injured.”
Equinor has contested the penalty and the case will now go to court. Siv Helen Rygh Torstensen, the company’s executive vice-president for legal and compliance, said: “We disagree that the company has failed to fulfil its duty of proper maintenance of the plant over several decades and that the company has saved cost through inadequate maintenance.
“Økokrim has not specified what the punishable negligence consists of. The company therefore does not accept the penalty notice and will clarify the case in court.”
