Norway taps off as storm looms

Norwegian operators have started shutting in production in the North Sea as a severe storm nears the area, with output of about 540,000 barrels per day being taken offline.

ConocoPhilips is shutting in five platforms at Ekofisk which pump a total of 140,000 bpd, adding it has already had shut two of them.

"We will continue with the plan to shut down five out of our 16 platforms, which will be done sometime this afternoon," said Kurt Mikkelsen, spokesman for ConocoPhilips' Norwegian unit.

BP said it had already shut its 80,000 barrels per day Valhall oilfield overnight, one day earlier than the company earlier envisaged.

"The production was shut overnight," BP Norge spokesman Jan Erik Geirmo told Reuters.

Both companies said they would get the production back up as soon as possible after the storm eases, but that weather forecast would ultimately decide the timing.

"Looking at it right now, we might be able to start up again late on Friday, but this is too early to say for sure," BP's Geirmo said.

ConocoPhillips' Mikkelsen said the weather would probably "calm down quite soon on Friday afternoon".

Some Ekofisk and Valhall platforms have subsided, or sunk closer to sea level, because the sea floor they stand on has effectively deepened due to reservoir depletion over decades of production. This makes them risky during stormy weather.

StatoilHydro is shutting in 320,000 barrels per day from the Grane, Visund, Oseberg South and Heimdal fields, it said.

On the British side of the North Sea, operators such as BP, France's Total and Venture Production said they had no plans to shut down infrastructure due to the storm.

Chevron and Talisman Energy also said they were not planning to halt operations so far, but would evaluate the situation throughout the day.

The Norwegian Meteorological Institute said it expects winds, expected to peak at above 100 kilometres per hour during the storm, to ease from tomorrow with waves, seen up to 20 metres high, also decreasing from late tomorrow.

BP and ConocoPhilips have in past days transported the bulk of the workers from the closed platforms to land, but kept behind some key personnel.