Statoil's Hammerfest Still Down

Statoil's Hammerfest LNG cooling facility, which was shut down following a fault with its gas dryers, is still down more than a week after shutdown, a spokesman for the company has confirmed.

Speaking to the Platts news agency today, spokesman Ola Skauby said that the plant still remained closed, without detailing any date on which the facility could be expected to reopen.

"It is still down and we do not have any estimates on when it will be coming back up again," he said. "We will publish information when something comes up."

The company announced last Thursday that it was forced to close the facility, which cools gas from the Snøhvit and Albatross fields, due to ingression of water into the natural gas dryers. This ingression can cause ice to form in the cooling circuit of the facility.

Statoil closed the facility last Tuesday, the 10th of July, due to the issues at the site.