North Sea-focused energy company Noreco has been dealt another blow after its one remaining operating interest was shut in due to production problems.
The Huntington field, in which it had a 20% stake, was shut in after health and safety chiefs issued a warning on the Voyageur Spirit FPSO for the site.
The Heath and Safety Executive were concerned about cargo tank venting during low winds on the FPSO.
“On a precautionary basis E.On, the operator, stopped production completely before HSE had issued its prohibition notice,” said managing director Svein Arild Killingland.
“E.On will ensure that the vessel is able to operate safely before any restart of operation is considered.
“Noreco is now in the unfortunate situation that production from all fields in which we have an interest have been shut down.
“We are closely following the situation and have offered our support to the respective operators to ensure that production can resume as soon as possible, but the health and safety of the people on board and the environment take first priority”
Last week the Oselvar field was shut in just days after returning to action because of gas compressor problems, while the Enoch, Nini, Nini East, Cecilie and Lulita fields in which it has interests are also currently shut down.
Noreco was producing 2344 barrels of oil equivalent a day from the field, – around 10% of its daily output – which had seen production issues due to gas compressors earlier this year.
Work on fixing the safety issues flagged by the HSE is currently under way, with the aim of production resuming in the next few days.
“The operator along with the duty holder are taking a number of actions to assure that the gas venting system can be improved by revised operational procedures,” Noreco confirmed in a statement.
“If this can be achieved, it is Noreco’s understanding that production could resume next week. A permanent solution is currently scheduled for completion in late August.”
No date has been set for work to resume at the Nini, Nini East and Cecile fields, with the Lulita and Oselvar fields due to resume by September.
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