Norway gas output to resume

OSLO: Norwegian gas exports to Europe are expected to return to normal on Sunday after a fire at a processing plant reduced output on Saturday, gas system operator Gassco said in a market message.

Output will be down by 25 million cubic metres per day on Saturday, just under 10 percent of exports on a normal day, after a fire at the Kaarstoe gas processing plant on Norway's western coast.

About 30 people were evacuated from the plant but no one was injured, officials said.

Statoil, a co-owner, said the company was still assessing the damage but noted that the fire was put out very quickly.

Norway is Europe's second biggest gas supplier after Russia and its export facilities have been running at full capacity.

An outage at Statoil's Troll gas field last month has already reduced supplies, leaving the market hungry for Norwegian gas.