North Sea Evacuations Due To Barge That Broke Anchor Following Storm; COP Oil Field At Risk

Update

January 4, 2016, from Seeking Alpha:

• ConocoPhillips says it has resumed production at its Eldfisk and Embla oil fields in the North Sea following a mass evacuation as a breakaway barge drifted toward the installations in heavy seas.
• The fields are part of the Ekofisk crude oil stream, which was scheduled to load ~258K bbl/day in January.
• BP said on Thursday after the barge had drifted passed its Valhall platform in the area that it had started normalizing operations.

Original Post

From Seeking Alpha:

• the large unmanned barge that broke anchor last night in the North Sea is drifting further north, threatening an oil field of ConocoPhillips
• production from the Eldfish and Embla oil fields have now been shut down and 145 people have been evacuated, the company said in a statement
• BP evacuated Valhall field in North Sea earlier
• Evacuate! BP has ordered the departure of staff from a North Sea Valhall oilfield as a large unmanned barge broke anchor and drifted towards drilling platforms following a storm
• "The barge has changed direction and BP has decided to shut production...there are 71 people left on the platform and they are being evacuated as we speak," a BP spokesman told Reuters.