Coronavirus: Immediate 'lockdown' if any offshore workers positive

Offshore oil and gas installations will be placed on immediate "lockdown" if a worker on board tests positive for coronavirus, the industry has said.

A pandemic steering group has been set up by industry body Oil and Gas UK to work out the best way to protect both the workforce and gas supplies.

The organisation said workers with the virus would be removed by emergency helicopter.

Transfer flights from that installation would be suspended.

Production will be allowed to continue unless the installation manager decides it is no longer safe.

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The industry body said it had been working with Health Protection Scotland to develop its contingency plans.

Workers from "locked down" platforms may have to be brought ashore by boat, instead of helicopter, where they can be kept in isolation more easily.

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) has been asked whether offshore workers can be given "critical infrastructure priority" when it comes to testing for the virus.

A decision is expected within days on whether workers travelling offshore will be subjected to additional health screening on departure.

Some concerns have been raised about the availability of specialist equipment needed to run some oil platforms, which comes from Italy.

But with temperatures expected to increase over the coming weeks, demand for gas is likely to fall.

Swift action

However, the industry is working with BEIS and the Oil and Gas Authority to make sure gas demand can be met.

Workers returning from Category 2 areas will be asked not to travel offshore in line with restrictions already in place for those coming back from Category 1 countries.

Reassurances have been offered about whether it would still be safe to continue offshore operations if people were being flown home.

Although most platform shutdowns happen in a controlled way over a period of hours or days, the industry says production can be ceased "within 15 minutes" if necessary.

That would mean that if multiple workers were suddenly confirmed as having coronavirus, action could be taken swiftly.

One person at the Martin Linge field in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea has tested positive for coronavirus.

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