Accident Claims One in BP North Sea Incident

A man has died after an incident on a North Sea oil platform owned by BP Plc, the company said on Thursday.

"BP is deeply saddened to confirm that an offshore worker has died following an incident on the Unity platform," BP said in a statement. It did not name the man but said the man's immediate family had been informed.

The Edinburgh-based Scotsman newspaper website said it was understood the death had resulted from a fall.

BP's safety record on its oil rigs has been under heightened scrutiny since the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

The offshore worker was an employee of British energy services firm Cape Plc. The Unity platform does not produce any oil but is part of the BP-operated Forties Pipeline System (FPS), which brings oil to shore in Scotland.

The incident happened between 0300 GMT and 0330 GMT, Cape spokeswoman Zoe Ogilvie said.

"The deceased was part of a Cape team carrying out routine maintenance onboard BP's Unity platform," Ogilvie said. "Our thoughts go out to his family, to whom we will be offering every support."

Both BP and Cape said they would work with Police Scotland and the Health and Safety Executive on a full investigation.

Reporting by David Sheppard