Drilling fluid spills from Suncor's Transocean Barents rig
Operations halted until approval received from industry board
Drilling has been halted by Suncor's Transocean Barents after a spill of drilling fluid from the rig.
The Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board said Saturday that Suncor reported a spill Friday of about 28,000 litres of synthetic-based mud from the mobile drilling unit.
Tweets by the board said there were no injuries and no seabirds or marine life observed in the area.
Drilling operations will not resume until it is safe to do so and until Suncor has received approval from the Chief Conservation Officer of the C-NLOPB.
—@CNLOPB"The well is safe and drilling has been suspended as Suncor investigates the cause of the discharge. The Canadian Coast Guard has been notified," said the board's Twitter account, which also said the board's safety, environment and operations departments are monitoring Suncor's investigation and response.
The Transocean Barents is drilling in the Terra Nova field, about 350 kilometres off the coast of Newfoundland. Suncor signed a 15-month, $119-million contract for the Transocean Barents to begin offshore operations in 2017.
In 2012, Suncor was fined $30,000 and a ordered to make a $100,000 contribution to the Environmental Damages Fund after a similar spill in the Jeanne d'Arc Basin the year before.