ENGIE: North Sea gas leak under control

The company reported the leak late Wednesday at its Gjoa field in the North Sea. Production is currently shut down.

"The situation quickly came under control, and no injuries are reported," the company said in a statement. "The gas leak has been stopped and the situation on board the Gjoa platform is under normalization."

The exploration and production subsidiary of French energy company ENGIE made a discovery near the existing Gjoa field last year. The Norwegian government confirmed the discovery in the wildcat Cara well, a well drilled into an area not previously known to contain oil or natural gas, and said the new discovery holds up to 69 million barrels of oil equivalent reserves.

A gas leak following regular maintenance operations forced the shutdown of operations at the Goliat field, operated by Italian company Eni, in August. Non-essential crew members were evacuated, though the company returned to full service the following month.

The French energy company said 49 people were on the platform at the time of the incident and 19 were taken away by helicopter to a nearby support center.

Apart from Russia, Norway is the leading oil and natural gas exporter to the European market.