Norwegian energy giant Equinor said Monday it briefly shut down production at its Snorre B oil platform in the North Sea as a precautionary measure following an earthquake.

The 4.6-magnitude quake occurred Monday at 6:32 am (0532 GMT), according to the Norwegian National Seismic Network.

The tremor could be felt on the platform, which produces between 30,000 and 35,000 barrels of oil per day, but no damage had been reported.

"The production at Snorre B was stopped today, as a precaution, following an earthquake in the North Sea that was registered on the installations," Equinor spokesman Gisle Ledel Johannessen told AFP.

Snorre B is located in the Snorre oil field of west coast of Norway, and the oil from the platform is piped 45 kilometres (30 miles) Statfjord B for export and storage.

"After inspections with ROV's we have not identified any irregularities on the seabed or the Snorre infrastructure," Johannessen told AFP.

"We have now started ramping up for normal production again."

Norway is the largest producer of oil in Western Europe, but supplies only about two percent of global oil consumption, according to Norwegian Petroleum.

Related Links
All About Oil and Gas News at OilGasDaily.com

Tweet

LNG projects in the Gulf of Mexico boosted as Russian gas alternative
Houston (AFP) March 20, 2022
Two years ago, the American liquified natural gas (LNG) company Tellurian was in free fall: Its stock price collapsed, it laid off 40 percent of its staff, and suspended a key project in Louisiana. Now, executive chairman Charif Souki says investors "are lining up at the door to ask me: 'Can we finance your project?'" At the annual CERAWeek energy conference in Houston, Souki told AFP that LNG projects have been boosted by the renewed emphasis on energy independence after Russia's invasion of U ... read more