Equinor’s Peregrino oil field offshore Brazil is on track to restart in the first half of 2021 following several delays, a spokesman said on April 12.

The heavy oil field in the Campos basin was shut in April 2020 due to a rupture of a riser at the Peregrino A platform during a test. Since the rupture was caused by corrosion, the company has decided to repair or replace other risers.

“The Peregrino field in Brazil is still shut down due to the riser rupture,” the company said in a letter to analysts on April 12, ahead of its quarterly earnings report due on April 29.

Equinor had originally expected to complete the repairs by year-end 2020 and then in the first-quarter 2021, but progress has been slowed down by the COVID-19 pandemic, the company said.

“We expect (Peregrino) production to resume in the first half of 2021,” an Equinor spokesman said on April 12, reiterating the outlook given in the company’s annual report published on March 19.

The company has estimated the repairs to cost about $60 million net to the company, classified as operational costs, and spread over fourth-quarter 2020 and first-quarter 2021.

Equinor’s equity output from Peregrino dropped to 9,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d) in 2020, down from 37,000 boe/d the previous year.

The company’s total oil and gas output stood at 2.1 million boe/d last year, with 40% produced outside Norway.

China’s state-run Sinochem holds a 40% stake in Peregrino.

Offshore