BP Uncertain If Norwegian Oil Strike Will Delay Skarv Production

BP Plc said it did not yet know whether a 16-day strike by Norwegian oil workers would delay a planned fourth-quarter production start at its Skarv field in the Norwegian Sea.

“It’s too early to say,” BP spokesman Olav Fjellsaa said by mobile phone today. “We won’t be up and going before two or three days.”

The strike, which was ended yesterday when Norway’s government ordered a compulsory arbitration, led to a shutdown of preparations for production at Skarv, he said.

BP operates the field with a 23.8 percent stake, while Statoil ASA (STL), Norway’s biggest producer, controls 36.2 percent. Estimated recoverable reserves are 409 million barrels of oil equivalent, of which three quarters are gas, according to BP’s website.

To contact the reporter on this story: Mikael Holter in Oslo at mholter2@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Christian Wienberg at cwienberg@bloomberg.net