Statoil restarts 200,000 bpd from platforms

The 200,000 barrel per day Snorre A and Vigdis offshore oil platforms have been restarted after defective lifeboats were upgraded to meet Norwegian safety standards, the state-controlled oil company Statoil ASA announced Oct. 27.

Statoil was forced to shut down its Snorre A platform and the linked Vigdis platform on Oct. 13 because an industry study found defects in lifeboats essential to evacuating crew in a crisis.

It said the Snorre A platform, which produces about 115,000 barrels per day of oil equivalents, resumed production Oct. 26, while the unmanned Vigdis platform it operates by remote control was restarted Oct. 25. Vigdis produces about 85,000 barrels per day of oil equivalents, which measure the energy content rather than the volume of oil and natural gas. The Norwegian Petroleum Safety Authority had ordered Snorre A shut down and nonessential crew evacuated because a type of “free-fall” lifeboat used on board was found to be faulty. Free-fall lifeboats can be dropped with crew aboard from 100 feet or more in an emergency, such as a fire or explosion, aboard platforms.

Statoil is the key producer on the offshore oil fields that make Norway the world’s third largest oil exporter after Saudi Arabia and Russia.

—The Associated Press