Våge informs news that it is the first time the company has experienced drone activity around their installations. – Earlier this week we observed a drone in the Ekofisk area. I do not want to go into the distance in relation to the installations. It was observed, and we reported it to the authorities, says Våge. The company states that they are cooperating with the authorities, and that they cannot provide further information on the matter. – What is most important to us is the safety of everyone who works for us onshore and offshore, says Våge. Many sightings It is not yet known how many and what type of drones have been spotted. Ekofisk is located in the southern part of the Norwegian sector of the North Sea, and is one of Norway’s oldest oil fields. Norwegian oil platforms in the North Sea where drones have been observed since the leaks in the Baltic Sea. Recently, many drones have been observed at Norwegian power and petroleum facilities. In addition, drones were observed at the supply facility at Mongstad north of Bergen. On Friday afternoon, the police informed Avisa Nordhordland that it is possible that new observations have been made by drones at Mongstad. Among the fields where drones have been observed are Gina Krog, Johan Sverdrup and Gullfaks C. Both the police and several oil companies have increased preparedness. Suspects foreign actors Chief of Staff Gustav Landro in the West police district confirms that they are investigating several drone cases related to oil and gas facilities. He says it is suspicious that there is drone activity at night, that they are driven without lights and in places where it is not allowed. – One of the things we work on in such cases is to find out whether this could be foreign intelligence, Landro told news on Thursday. Senior researcher Erik Reichborn-Kjennerud at Nupi says drone activity at Norwegian facilities is probably connected to the situation in Russia. He believes that Russia is trying to map what the facilities look like and where it is possible to enter, or where a missile should hit. He believes the war is at a stage where things can escalate quickly, but he does not believe in a full-scale war between Russia and the West. Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre (Ap) said on Wednesday that the drone activity is part of the reason why preparedness at Norwegian oil and gas installations has been increased since March. – We will have higher preparedness in the area and be more visible, said Støre. Requests for a larger safety zone On Thursday, there was an extraordinary meeting of the safety forum led by the Petroleum Safety Authority. There, the trade union Nito called for more coordinated and collected information. They also requested that a larger safety zone than 500 meters around installations be considered. – At airports, the safety zone is, for example, 5 kilometres, so it must be considered whether it should be increased for installations and infrastructure. We will follow this up in the future, said Nio’s representative in the Security Forum, Jorunn Birkeland.
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