CNOOC Petroleum Europe Limited, a subsidiary of CNOOC Limited, has confirmed it has shut down its Buzzard field, located in the UK North Sea, for the second time in two weeks due to pipework defect.

According to a report by Reuters, the Buzzard field was shut earlier this month for about 10 days for repairs.

Following repairs, the field restarted production, however, it had to be shut down again.

In an email to Offshore Energy Today, CNOOC on Friday confirmed it took a safe, temporary shutdown of its Buzzard installation at around 9:05am on Wednesday, October 16.

A spokesperson for the company said: “A defect on topsides pipework was repaired last week and production safely restarted. A routine follow-up inspection identified that the integrity of the repair was subsequently compromised.”

“There is no harm to people, the environment or the asset,” the company noted.

The company further said that an alternative repair option was being progressed.

Normal operations are expected to resume once the repair is complete.

Located about 96 kilometres northeast of Aberdeen, in approximately 96 metres of water, the Buzzard asset is the UK's highest-producing field.

In 2017, CNOOC announced the Buzzard Phase II project. The project was sanctioned in August 2018. It involves the construction of a subsea development approximately five kilometres north-east of the Buzzard platform. This will comprise a 12-slot production and water injection subsea manifold that will be tied back to the existing Buzzard complex. First oil is expected in 2021.

CNOOC Petroleum Europe Limited is the operating partner of Buzzard (43.21%), with Suncor Energy (29.89%), Chrysaor (21.73%), Dyas Exploration UK Limited (4.70%), and Oranje-Nassau Energie Resources Limited (0.46%) also holding interests in the field and its facilities.