Harsh weather hinders clean-up of N.Sea oil spill

About 25,000 barrels of oil spilled into the Norwegian sector of the North Sea at the Statfjord oilfield on Wednesday and rough weather hindered the clean-up, operator StatoilHydro and energy officials said.

The coastal authority said it saw only a small chance that the oil would reach Norway’s coast but predictions were uncertain. StatoilHydro said the weather was so harsh that clean-up vessels headed for the site could not scoop up the oil.

"Observations from aircraft and helicopters indicate that the oil slick is currently about eight kilometers long by one wide," Norwegian energy group StatoilHydro said in a statement.

...

The spill happened in rough seas while the tanker Navion Britannica was loading oil from a storage buoy, StatoilHydro said. The vessel belongs to Vancouver-based Teekay Corp.

...