Oil and gas work resumed

OIL giant Shell yesterday resumed production on the major Brent oil and gas field, seven months after being forced to shut down production when a 25-tonne fender, protecting the lags of the Brent Bravo platform, fell off the installation.

Around 100 non-essential staff on the platform were returned to the mainland as a "precautionary measure" following the incident in January and production was immediately halted on the Bravo installation and the three other Brent platforms.

The field, 150 miles north-east of Shetland, normally provides about 2 per cent of the UK's gas requirements and about 1 per cent of its oil.