BP Starts Oil and Gas Output at U.K.'s Bruce Field

By Ben Farey

Aug. 21 (Bloomberg) -- BP Plc resumed natural-gas and oil production at its Bruce field in the U.K. North Sea following a two-month shutdown, sending gas prices lower.

``We plan to ramp up to normal production levels at Bruce over the next few days,'' Joanne McDonald, BP's spokeswoman in Aberdeen, Scotland, said today in a phone interview.

Bruce and Rhum, a neighboring field, had been closed for maintenance since June 21. Bruce's start was delayed because of a pipeline fault. McDonald couldn't immediately say whether Rhum would also start today.

U.K. gas for delivery in October reversed earlier gains to fall 0.8 percent to 78.90 pence a therm as of 11:37 a.m. U.K. time, according to ICAP Plc. Baseload electricity for delivery next month dropped 0.2 percent to 83.30 pounds a megawatt hour, ICAP data showed.

Bruce produced an average of 7,620 barrels of oil a day in the 12 months to March and about 6.4 million cubic meters of gas, data from the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform show.

BP, Europe's second-biggest oil company, said July 24 that Bruce's return from planned summer maintenance would be delayed after a cylindrical, remotely controlled hydraulic device, designed to fit into a pipeline, was found to have moved from its original position on the Bruce platform.

``We've moved the temporary pipeline isolation tool to an area that's allowed us to restart production,'' McDonald said, adding that the device will be recovered from the pipeline during next summer's maintenance season.

Gas from the Bruce and Rhum fields flow into Total SA's Frigg pipeline and on to the St. Fergus terminal in Northern Scotland.

To contact the reporter on this story: Ben Farey in London at bfarey@bloomberg.net