Norway's Troll and Kvitebjoern outages extended

OSLO: Outages at Norway's biggest offshore gas field Troll and the smaller Kvitebjoern field have been extended and will cut the country's production capacity by 104.7 and 22 million cubic metres (mcm) respectively on Thursday, gas system operator Gassco said on Wednesday.

Both outages are now seen lasting for one to three days compared to an earlier estimate of one to two days, but the duration was uncertain, Gassco added on its website.

Statoil shut Troll late on Tuesday after smoke was detected in an electrical switchboard, but quickly determined that there was no fire.

Statoil said earlier on Wednesday it is preparing to start up gas production at Troll but has no estimate yet on when exports will start to flow.