All, confirmation no Y2K bugs in North Sea operations.
Saturday January 1, 7:43 am Eastern Time
UK N.Sea crude flowing normally, operators say
LONDON, Jan 1 (Reuters) - Oil and gas output from
Britain's sector of the North Sea entered the new
millennium smoothly with no Y2K bug problems reported,
operators said on Saturday.
Companies operating U.K. North Sea fields confirmed
production was normal in the sector, which pumps about
2.7 million barrels per day of oil and natural gas liquids.
Brent crude, a benchmark for international crude pricing, was unaffected by the millennium bug, said operator Shell Expro, which runs the Brent system on behalf of Royal Dutch/Shell (quote from Yahoo! UK & Ireland: SHEL.L) and Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM - news)
``No reports of any problems,' said a spokesman for BP Amoco , which operates the Forties stream, Britain's largest crude export flow.
``It's passed off very uneventfully,' said a spokesman for BHP, which operates the Irish Sea Liverpool Bay oil and gas project.
The U.K. Offshore Operators Association (UKOOA), the offshore oil industry's trade body, said said separately it had received no reports of any problems from its
members.
Confirmation of normal operation was received from Shell Expro, BP Amoco, Elf Aquitaine, Enterprise Oil (quote from Yahoo! UK & Ireland: ETP.L), Talisman UK (Toronto:TLM.TO - news), BG (quote from Yahoo! UK & Ireland: BG.L), Amerada Hess (NYSE:AHC - news), Totalfina , Texaco (NYSE:TX - news), Lasmo (quote from Yahoo! UK & Ireland: LSMR.L), Marathon (NYSE:MRO - news), AGIP , Phillips (NYSE:P - news), Chevron (NYSE:CHV - news) and Conoco (NYSE:COCa - news).
Tanker movements resumed early on Saturday at the Sullom Voe terminal in the Shetland Islands, the loading point for Brent, ending a long-planned six-hour suspension carried out as a precaution against the Y2K bug.
In a previously announced move, tanker operations were suspended at about 2100 GMT on Friday to allow officials to make sure all operations at the terminal were running without any Y2K problems.
``Operations and production at Sullom Voe are as normal,' a spokesman said.
A spokesman for the Maritime and Coastguard Agency said there were no reports of incidents at ports and terminals around Britain's coasts.
eom Ed |
