STAVANGER, Norway, Dec. 21 (UPI) -- Norwegian energy giant Statoil announced it was fined $4.2 million for an oil spill from the Statfjord A oil field in early December 2007.
Regional prosecutors slapped Statoil with a $4.26 million fine for a December 2007 oil spill from a loading buoy at the Statfjord A oil field.
"We have noted the public prosecutor's decision," said Thorstein Hole, a vice president at Statoil. "We'll be taking time to study the grounds for the fine."
Roughly 25,000 barrels of crude oil spilled into the North Sea from the accident, making it one of the worst oil spills in Norwegian waters in nearly three decades.
Hole said Statoil made substantial improvements to the way it works in the North Sea in order to avoid a repeat of the 2007 spill.
"We've made changes to the way we plan and implement modifications, strengthened the maintenance program and adopted more secure routines for offshore loading," he said.
Statoil pointed to a Norwegian maritime research study that found no adverse environmental harm from the oil spill.
