Buzzard oilfield yet to restart; more Forties delays seen

LONDON (Reuters) - The restart of Britain's largest oilfield after a maintenance shutdown has slipped further, trade sources said on Thursday, in what may further impact shipments of the oil that sets the Brent benchmark.

The Buzzard field in the North Sea, the largest of the fields contributing to the Forties crude blend which underpins the Brent contract, is expected to restart in the next couple of days, the source said, not October 25 or 26 as previously thought.

A series of delays in the restart of the field has disrupted shipments of Forties crude, leading to an increase in the premium in the price of Brent oil for immediate delivery, and frustrating buyers and sellers of the crude.

"Not yet," the source said, asked if the field had restarted. "Next couple of days." A second source, familiar with Forties production, said the restart was expected by Monday.

The timescales from the trade sources differ from an official statement from Canadian oil company Nexen, Buzzard's operator, in its third-quarter earnings statement on Thursday.

"We are in the process of restarting the platform, and expect production to ramp up in the next week to 10 days," Calgary-based Nexen said.

Buzzard has been shut since September 4 and prolonged work at the field has contributed to delays in all 16 of the Forties cargoes due to be loaded in October. So far, one November shipment has been cancelled and two delayed.

One Forties trader was expecting details of further cargo delays to emerge in the next few days.

A loss of Buzzard output for just a few days can have a significant impact on Forties loadings since the field pumps 200,000 barrels per day (bpd), enough to fill a Forties cargo every three days.

Restarting North Sea installations often takes longer than expected due to problems including bad weather and the emergence of unexpected engineering and technical issues.

(Editing by James Jukwey)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/buzzard-oilfield-yet-restart-more-forties-delays-seen-110635147.html

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