Equinor disputes a fine from the Norwegian Environmental Crime Investigation Service of 220 million Norwegian kroner and a confiscation claim of 500 million kroner.
This is stated by the company in a press release.
The case concerns Equinor Refining Norway AS, also known as Equinor Mongstad, which back in May 2021 was charged with violations of the Pollution Control Act in connection with discharges and emissions from the Mongstad refinery. According to Equinor, the case concerns matters that the company itself has uncovered, investigated and reported to the authorities.
The investigation has now been completed, but Equinor disagrees with Økokrim's assessment of the company's responsibility and has therefore chosen not to accept the fine.
- We take the aforementioned matters very seriously. The company uncovered the emissions and discharges itself and reported them to the authorities. Equinor has conducted thorough and transparent investigations and initiated a number of measures to correct relevant deviations, says Siv Helen Rygh Torstensen, Group Director of Legal & Compliance at Equinor.
She also emphasizes that the company rejects the accusation of lack of maintenance:
- We disagree that the company has not fulfilled its duty to properly maintain the facility over several decades, and that the company has saved costs through inadequate maintenance. Økokrim has not specified what the criminal negligence consists of. The company therefore does not accept the fine and will have the matter resolved in court.
The law firm Hjort AS represents Equinor in the case.
ap
Text, graphics, images, sound, and other content on this website are protected under copyright law. DK Medier reserves all rights to the content, including the right to exploit the content for the purpose of text and data mining, cf. Section 11b of the Copyright Act and Article 4 of the DSM Directive.
Customers with IP agreements/major customer agreements may only share Danish Offshore Industry articles internally for the purpose of handling specific cases. Sharing in connection with specific cases refers to journaling, archiving, or similar uses.
Customers with a personal subscription/login may not share Danish Offshore Industry articles with individuals who do not themselves have a personal subscription to Danish Offshore Industry.
Any deviation from the above requires written consent from DK Medier.
