Post date: Jan 16, 2013 10:7:20 PM
Statoil says two of its employees at a gas field in Algeria are lightly wounded but will not comment on what the situation is for another thirteen employees.
STAVANGER, NORWAY (JANUARY 16, 2013)(SCANPIX) - Norwegian oil company Statoil - that jointly operates the In Amenas gas field in Algeria - said on Wednesday (January 16) four of its employees were in safety - two of them slightly injured - but would not comment on the situation for the company's remaining thirteen employees at the facility.
Islamist militants attacked the gas field - operated by a joint venture including BP, Statoiland Algerian state company Sonatrach - on Wednesday, claiming to have kidnapped up to 41 foreigners including seven Americans in a dawn raid in retaliation for France's intervention in Mali, according to regional media reports.The raiders were also reported to have killed three people, including a Briton and a French national.
"At 0550 this morning local time, 0650 Norwegian time, we received a message about an attack on the In Amenas plant in Algeria. The intruders took control over the area after a relatively short time. This is big gas facility in the desert near the Libyan border and is jointly operated by Sonatrach, which is the Algerian state oil company, BP and Statoil," said Lars Christian Bacher, Statoil's Executive Vice President for Development and Production International.
Al Qaeda-linked militants who attacked the field have demanded an end to French military operations against Islamists in northern Mali in return for the safety of dozens of hostages, Mauritania's ANI news agency reported.
BP said armed men were still occupying facilities at the gas field.
Bacher said the company was taking the situation very seriously.
"This is a situation that we are taking very seriously and that affects the whole of Statoil. We have a hostage situation at our plant and our employees are involved. We immediately mobilised our emergency organisation both in Algeria and Norway. The most important thing for us is the situation of our employees and their relatives," he told a news briefing at the company's offices in Stavanger.
Norwegian media reported four out of Statoil's 17 employees were in safety at a military camp. Bacher said two of these employees were lightly wounded.
"The relatives are continuously being updated throughout the day and they are experiencing an extreme situation. We have received information that two of our employees have been hurt physically - not seriously - but the situation is still unresolved and confusing. We are doing what we can to keep our employees and their relatives updated," Bacher said.
He did not want to comment on the situation of the other thirteen employees.
According to newspaper Bergens Tidende, a Norwegian gas worker was among the kidnapped, quoting the man's wife, .
Also among those reported kidnapped by various sources were five Japanese nationals working for the Japanese engineering firm JGC Corp, a French national, an Irishman and a number of Britons.