Dubai Petroleum Offshore Inci

RNS Number : 7165C

Petrofac Limited

04 September 2008

 



PETROFAC LIMITED

DUBAI PETROLEUM OFFSHORE INCIDENT

Petrofac, the international oil & gas facilities service provider, as Service Operator on the Dubai Petroleum offshore assets for Dubai Petroleum Establishment confirms that at approximately 20.20 hours (UAE) on Wednesday 3 September there was an incident involving a helicopter in the Rashid field approximately 70 kilometres offshore Dubai.

An Aerogulf Bell 212 helicopter carrying two crew members and five passengers was engaged in a routine infield flight. During take-off the helicopter crashed onto the deck of the Resilient, the Maersk jack-up drilling rig. The aircraft then broke up and fell into the sea. 

Immediately following the incident, a fire broke out on the main deck of the drilling rig which was quickly contained and extinguished. Emergency response vessels and aircraft were mobilised and incident management control measures were immediately initiated in co-operation with the Dubai Police and Coastguard. 

By 01:30 hours on Thursday 4 September, it was confirmed that there were no survivors, and that there were no additional casualties on either the drilling rig or the platform. 

All operations on the Rashid field have been suspended and the platform and drilling rig have been secured.

The relatives of the deceased, who are contractor personnel and are confirmed as non UAE Nationals, are currently being informed. No Petrofac personnel are among the deceased.

An accident investigation has been initiated with Dubai Police and the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority.

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For further information contact:

Bell Pottinger Corporate & Financial	[phone]
Charles Cook
Olly Scott

Notes to Editors

Petrofac

Petrofac is a leading international provider of facilities solutions to the oil & gas production and processing industry, with a diverse customer portfolio including many of the world's leading integrated, independent and national oil & gas companies. Petrofac is quoted on the London Stock Exchange (symbol: PFC) and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.  

Through its three divisions, Engineering & Construction, Operations Services and Energy Developments, Petrofac designs and builds oil & gas facilities; operates, maintains or manages facilities and trains personnel; and, where return criteria are met and service revenue synergies identified, co-invests with customers and partners. Petrofac's range of services allows it to help meet its customers' needs across the life cycle of oil & gas assets.

With more than 10,000 employees, Petrofac operates out of four strategically located international centres, in Aberdeen, Sharjah, Woking and Mumbai and a further 20 offices worldwide. The predominant focus of Petrofac's business is on the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS), Africa, the Middle East, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and the Asia Pacific region.

For additional information, please refer to the Petrofac website at www.petrofac.com.

Dubai Petroleum

Petrofac is Service Operator on behalf of Dubai Petroleum Establishment for the Dubai Petroleum offshore operations. Petrofac assumed responsibility for the facilities management and well operations on 2 April 2007.  

Dubai Petroleum comprises four fields, some 70 platforms and over 371 miles of subsea pipeline and has approximately 1,250 personnel across its operations.

 

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