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Production at Hibernia oil platform shut following power outage, oil spill

Hibernia Management And Development Co. Ltd. is tackling another oil spill on the Hibernia oil platform in Newfoundland on Aug. 17, according to an Aug. 19 release.

The company, or HMDC, said it activated its incident response plan, and a number of vessels and aircraft have been deployed. Satellite imagery is also being used to identify surface oil to support the response, the release said.

An estimated 2,200 liters of oil spilled into the Atlantic Ocean, according to an Aug. 19 report from CBC News.

The company attributed the spill to a temporary loss of power on the platform late Aug. 17. HMDC said the outage shut down the compressed air system and the drop in air pressure resulted in a release of water from the deluge firefighting system. The water was collected in the platform's drainage system and tanks. However, excess water caused the tanks to overflow onto the platform's gravity base structure, releasing oil and water into the Atlantic Ocean.

HMDC reported there was no fire on the platform, all platform personnel are safe, and power was restored Aug. 17. However, production remains shut, the platform operator said.

The incident came a few days after HMDC announced production would resume after the platform was shut July 17 due to an oil spill.

Oil major Exxon Mobil Corp. subsidiary ExxonMobil Canada Ltd. holds a 33.125% stake in HMDC. Other shareholder companies include Chevron Corp. unit Chevron Canada Resources Ltd., Suncor Energy Inc., Canada Hibernia Holding Corp., Murphy Oil Corp. and Equinor ASA subsidiary Equinor Canada Ltd., which hold stakes of 26.875%, 20%, 8.5%, 6.5% and 5%, respectively.