Norway LNG plant resumes output after 20-month outage

The plant had been offline since September of 2020, and a restart was postponed several times while repairs were carried out. "This is of great significance in a period when predictable and reliable supplies are highly important to many countries and customers," Equinor executive Irene Rummelhoff said in a statement.

Norway's Hammerfest liquefied natural gas plant has restarted LNG production following a fire 20 months ago, operator Equinor said on Thursday.

The company last week told Reuters the plant had completed repairs and was preparing to restart output. The plant had been offline since September of 2020, and a restart was postponed several times while repairs were carried out.

"This is of great significance in a period when predictable and reliable supplies are highly important to many countries and customers," Equinor executive Irene Rummelhoff said in a statement. A restart is a welcome news for the gas market, which is scrambling to find alternatives to Russian supplies in the wake of the war in Ukraine, and as Norway seeks to cement its position as a reliable energy supplier.