Statoil resumes Snorre A production

Feb. 9, 2005
Statoil ASA said production from Snorre A platform and the Vigdis satellite in the Norwegian North Sea are back online after a natural gas leak forced it to shut in 205,000 b/d of production (OGJ Online, Jan. 18, 2005).

By OGJ editors

HOUSTON, Feb. 9 -- Statoil ASA said production from Snorre A platform and the Vigdis satellite in the Norwegian North Sea are back online after a natural gas leak forced it to shut in 205,000 b/d of production (OGJ Online, Jan. 18, 2005).

The restart of production comes after extensive inspection and start-up work.

Output from Vigdis is back to its normal 75,000 b/d, while Snorre A is producing about 100,000 b/d, instead of its previous 130,000 b/d.

"The reduction in Snorre A production reflects the fact that we're not injecting gas," said Øivind Reinertsen, senior vice-president for the Tampen cluster.

Suspending gas injection is not related to the incident. But new verification studies show that gas injection pressure, under certain conditions, could be higher than earlier estimates and may exceed the design value for the risers.

Statoil will abstain from injecting gas until studies have been completed.