Spirit Energy's North Sea Chestnut field shut in due to coronavirus

London — North Sea producer Spirit Energy has suspended production at its Chestnut oil field due to coronavirus among the offshore workforce, the first such shutdown in connection with the virus in Europe's main oil and gas basin.

Known for the Brent crude oil benchmark, the UK is western Europe's second largest oil producer after Norway, with output of around 1.1 million b/d.

Production from the Chestnut field is via a floating production, storage and offloading vessel, rather than one of the major pipelines, and oil volumes were in a range of 4,000-9,000 b/d last year, according to data from regulator the Oil & Gas Authority.

The UK industry is aiming to continue production through the coronavirus crisis, while moving to minimal staffing levels at offshore facilities and deferring non-essential activity.

Trade unions have voiced concern for the health of workers, including the cramped conditions on helicopters used to ferry personnel between facilities and the shore.

Amid a number of outbreaks around the North Sea, the death was reported Monday of one worker who had been evacuated from the Elgin-Franklin gas complex after displaying symptoms associated with the virus. Around 9,000 workers are currently thought to be offshore at UK oil and gas facilities.

The decision to shut in the Chestnut field comes after two workers were evacuated in recent days, one of whom was confirmed as having COVID-19 and the other due to symptoms associated with the virus.

Confirming the outbreak and suspension of production, Spirit Energy said it was working with the facility's operator, Teekay, and service provider Altera Infrastructure and "offering them all the support we can at this time."

There was no immediate indication of when production would resume.

The Chestnut field was formerly operated by UK utility Centrica until it created a separate company, Spirit Energy, for its upstream oil and gas business alongside Germany's Bayerngas.

Centrica has been trying to sell its majority stake in Spirit Energy, but said this month the process was on hold due to volatile conditions.