Since the LNG-plant for the Snøhvit gas-field in the Barents Sea was opened last year, StatoilHydro has not been able to have full production at the plant. Sverre Kojedal in StatoilHydro says to NRK that they will probably never reach higher than 60 percent of full production for another 12 months.
The plant has been closed down for two months this summer. In this time the cooling tower, which has caused all the problems, has undergone improvements to keep production at the maximum possible level. Statoil Hydro will use the next year to find out which adjustments will have to be done in order to reach full production.
