Norway: BP Skarv gas production outage will last until February
BP said Tuesday that production at its Skarv field in offshore Norway will be reduced by 40 percent until the middle of February due to ongoing repairs.
Production at the field has been restricted since November after a high voltage transformer short circuited and shut down one of the two gas export trains at the field.
BP said a new transformer has been delivered to Norway but poor weather conditions have delayed installation.
“The weather in the winter period has proven very unstable and we need very calm sea for safe operations. The earliest possibility (to install the new transformer) will be close to mid-February provided the weather is fine,” a BP spokesman told Reuters.
The Skarvv FPSO has a capacity of 19 million cubic meters of gas and 85,000 barrels of oil per day.
Although gas production is reduced the field’s oil production is “running close to maximum,” BP said.
BP previously said oil production at Skarv would be prioritized until gas production recovers.
BP has a 23.84 percent operating stake in the field.
Norway’s Statoil holds a 36.17 percent stake, Germany’s E.ON E&P Norge holds a 28.08 percent stake and Poland’s PGNiG holds a 11.92 percent stake.
Skarv is located in production licenses PL159, PL212, PL212B and PL262 in water depths ranging from 1,148 to 1,476 feet.