Norway's Equinor suspends flights to key offshore facilities pending virus test results

Norway's state-controlled Equinor has suspended helicopter flights to its flagship Oseberg field and facilities at the Gullfaks and Martin Linge fields pending results from coronavirus tests of offshore workers, in the first sign of the virus directly affecting the North Sea industry.

An Equinor spokesman told S&P Global Platts there was no disruption to production as "ordinary operations" continued.

Flights are temporarily suspended to the central Oseberg facility as well as the Askepott rig at the Oseberg field, the Askeladden rig at the Gullfaks field, and the Martin Linge field, a non-producing field under development, the spokesman said.

Oseberg typically produces around 110,000 b/d of oil and is one of the crudes that contributes to the Platts Dated Brent crude benchmark, used in oil markets around the world.

Elsewhere in the North Sea, UK regulator the Oil & Gas Authority said it was encouraging a "pragmatic" approach that protects personnel while enabling production to continue where possible. The UK's Health and Safety Executive said it was unaware of any coronavirus cases affecting upstream production, although Scottish media reported a coronavirus case at a Shell office in Aberdeen.

A spokesman for the OGA said: "We are aware of the efforts by various stakeholders to improve the advice and guidance available to offshore operators, and encourage all parties to seek pragmatic solutions that protect people but enable activity to continue where possible."

Norway's petroleum and energy ministry declined to comment on the Norwegian industry's ability to cope with the virus. Norway has had a relatively high incidence of coronavirus, with nearly 200 people infected in a country of around 5.4 million, but no deaths reported.

CONTINGENCY MEASURES

The Equinor spokesman declined to say how confident the company is of maintaining uninterrupted production, but said it was taking "the precautionary measures we can."

"Preparations have been made as part of our planning, but it is of course hard to predict any scenario and we do not want to speculate... Offshore we have good routines in place for various outbreaks of infectious disease we sometimes experience," he said, outlining measures such as isolation of ill employees, deep-cleaning, hygiene procedures and medical support services.

"At the logistic hubs such as helicopter terminals, measures towards our travelers have been taken early in order to reduce risks for spreading disease," he said, noting also a ban within the company on staff travelling to high-risk countries.

The UK government's Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy said the country "is extremely well prepared for these types of outbreaks and will continue to take all necessary precautions to protect the public, including engaging with key industry partners to discuss their preparedness planning."