Statoil restarts shuttered LNG facility

• Tweet

STAVANGER, Norway, Jan. 20 (UPI) -- Production at a liquefied natural gas facility producing as much as 48,000 barrels of oil equivalent for Statoil has resumed, the Norwegian company said.

Statoil reported last week that a water line tied to a fire control system ruptured at its LNG plant in Melkoya near Hammerfest, leading to a controlled production shut down at the plant. Friday, the company announced it returned the facility to full production.

"We have a good overview of the extent of the damages and we have already started the improvement work," Oivind Nilsen, head of operations at Hammerfest LNG, said in a statement.

As an interim precaution, the company said it was increasing surveillance of the area and preparations were made for alternative responses should a fire break out at the facility.

The facility receives natural gas from the Snohvit field in Norway and production there had been halted as well but are back to normal, the company said.

A separate task force was employed to investigate the accident.