Norne Feels Stays Shut Longer Than Expected

Statoil said that scheduled maintenance closure at the North Sea Norne oilfield would run a few days longer than expected. Norne, which shut down for one week on April 4, was scheduled to be back into full production of between 180,000 and 200,000 barrels per day by Sunday, April 16, Statoil said. It attributed the extension to a slower-than-anticipated shutdown procedure. The turnaround was required to modify the Norne production ship to begin gas exports to continental Europe from October 1. The ship will be able to process and export up to 2.5 billion cubic meters of gas per year.