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Equinor receives harsh criticism from environmental authorities following the illegal oil spills in Mongstad. Authorities fear Equinor management is not taking the environment seriously, and called them on the carpet.
Equinor Oil Refinery in Mongstad.
Gwladys Fouche
Published:,
The Equinor plant in Mongstad is the largest oil refinery in Norway. Large quantities of gasoline, diesel and jet fuel are produced here.
The Norwegian Environment Agency is now reacting to the pollution after the oil spills. It was Equinor who notified the management of the accidents in early 2020.
Management uses unusually harsh wording in a recent letter to Equinor.
“We take the situation very seriously”, they write in the letter to which Aftenposten / E24 has had access.
Aftenposten / E24 on Friday tried to get a comment from Equinor. They responded with a press release Friday afternoon.
– The conditions that we have discovered in Mongstad are unacceptable, says Irene Rummelhoff. She is Executive Vice President of Equinor.
See their comments at the end of the case.
– Nothing satisfactory
Management has held several meetings with Equinor management earlier this year. The background is the fear that the work of caring for the environment lacks anchorage at the highest level in the company.
– It is special that we should point out that this is important, says Harald Sørby. He is a section leader at the Norwegian Environment Agency.
Equinor then launched an internal investigation into the case. The report came in on Friday.
Equinor now receives two orders:
- They must carefully assess the contamination.
- They must take measures that prevent damage to the environment.
– The challenge is much greater than what we had previously assumed. The situation in Mongstad is not at all satisfactory. We hope Equinor takes this seriously and follows up, says Sørby.
– Harmful to life and organisms.
Between 2015 and 2019, Equinor reported emissions of more than 40,000 liters more than it had a permit. Equinor has now extracted 100,000 liters of oil from the ground.
The number of issues would have been significantly lower if Equinor had taken the necessary action, management believes.
They fear a high degree of illegal contamination and an unacceptable risk of spread.
Equinor believed in 2018 that emissions did not pose a significant risk to the environment. The oil did not spread to the sea, they thought. Therefore, management was content to ask them to perform the routines to avoid further accidents.
In 2019 and 2020, however, there have been more emissions. And it has spread to the sea.
Therefore, Equinor’s 2018 valuation is not correct, according to management.
– Oil in water and soil is harmful to life and the organisms found there, says Sørby.
Equinor Executive Vice President, Irene Rummelhoff
Marit Hommedal / NTB
Serious violations
The emissions themselves are serious, they believe. But that the pollution is spreading to the sea is even more serious, they write.
Equinor has also violated an environmental requirement in its permit, according to the Norwegian Environment Agency.
– The violation of the permit can be compared to the violation of the Road Traffic Law. Driving in the 53 km / h 50 zone does not imply a prison sentence. But the 120 km / h 50 zone gives a tighter reaction, says Sørby.
– What does the Equinor traffic disruption look like?
– We are now at high speed. I would say that.
Equinor: – Does not meet the relevant environmental requirements
Equinor itself has responded in a press release:
– When the situation became known, Equinor immediately implemented measures to limit the consequences of the entry of oil. Oil has already been collected from the ground around the safety basin. All sources of leaks that we have found have been rectified and the oil values of the water treatment plant have returned to normal levels, says director of marketing, processing and trade, Irene Rummelhoff.
– The conditions we have discovered in Mongstad are unacceptable. Research shows that there has been insufficient understanding of the requirements that apply to discharges to ground, and that this has led us to have a practice in this area that is not in accordance with the relevant environmental requirements. In addition to the operational measures on the site, therefore, we have begun work to strengthen knowledge and ensure compliance with all requirements for downloads. For discharges to water, the research confirms that we have good routines to make sure we are within the limits set by the authorities, says Irene Rummelhoff.
