Shell’s Shearwater platform is expected to resume production after being shutdown for nearly three weeks.
The oil major was forced to evacuate the facility, after the drilling of an exploration well triggered an alarm.
The firm carried out remedial work this week after bad weather hampered earlier attempts. A spokesman today confirmed the necessary “remedial” work had been completed. He failed to say what caused the alarm to sound.
A Shell spokesperson said: “Shell UK can confirm that remediation work at the Shearwater field has been completed following the unplanned shutdown on 2nd December.
“The Shearwater platform, which is located approximately 140 miles east of Aberdeen, is currently being up-manned and production from the field will gradually resume over the coming days.”
Shearwater is located in the Central North Sea about 140 miles east of Aberdeen.
It is classed as a Process, Utilities and Quarters (PUQ) platform, which is bridge linked to a Wellhead (WH) Platform. The Shearwater field is a high pressure, high temperature (HP/HT) reservoir. Gas is piped via the SEAL pipeline to Bacton. Oil is piped through the GAEL pipeline in toe the Forties pipeline and then onto Cruden Bay and Grangemouth.
The investigation into what caused the alarm is still ongoing, according to a Shell spokesman.