By Kjetil Malkenes Hovland
OSLO--Production at the Knarr oil field off Norway has been shut
down following a fire at the floating production unit early
Tuesday, BG Group, the operator of the field, said.
"The fire alarm went off around 0145 hours [local time] at the
floating production unit on the Knarr field off Floro on Norway's
west coast," said a BG Group spokesman Hans Olav Holmen. "The crew
was mobilized, and a fire crew localized the fire and brought it
under control."
Nobody was injured, Mr. Holmen said. The company planned to
evacuate non-essential crew to nearby oil and gas installations,
but evacuation wasn't necessary as the fire was put out relatively
quickly, he added.
The 264-meter long Petrojarl Knarr floating production, storage
and offloading vessel, built by Samsung Heavy Industries in Korea,
has been leased by BG Group from Teekay Corp. The unit has a
production capacity of about 63,000 barrels of oil equivalent per
day, and a storage capacity of 800,000 barrels.
The Knarr field started producing on March 18, about 120
kilometers off the Norwegian coast. It is estimated to hold some 80
million barrels of oil equivalent and expected to produce for at
least a decade. The Knarr partners are exploring the area in an aim
to add more resources and further extend the field's existence.
BG Group is operator of the Knarr field with a 45% stake.
Partners include Idemitsu Petroleum with a 25% stake, Wintershall
AG with a 20% stake and RWE DEA AG with a 10% stake.
"We have shut down production, and it hasn't resumed yet. This
is a serious event and we will find out what happened together with
Teekay," Mr. Holmen said.
Write to Kjetil Malkenes Hovland at
kjetilmalkenes.hovland@wsj.com
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