March 3 (Bloomberg) -- StatoilHydro ASA, Norway's largest oil and natural-gas company, will start production at platform T at the Sleipner gas and condensate field in the North Sea within the next 24 hours.

The resumption of output at platform A will ``take longer,'' spokesman Gisle Johanson said today by telephone, without elaborating. The two platforms have a capacity of about 39 million cubic meters of gas a day, of which platform T accounts for more than 50 percent, he said.

Production was halted after a gas leak at platform A, which was discovered when an alarm sounded at about 3 a.m. local time today. The 228 personnel on site were moved to lifeboats for about 1 1/2 hours before returning to the platform. The cause of the leak remains unknown, Johanson said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Vibeke Laroi in Oslo at vlaroi@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: March 3, 2008 05:52 EST