UPDATE: Kollsnes Gas Processing Plant Remains Offline Wed

Norway's gas network operator Wednesday said the Kollsnes gas processing plant remains offline after it was forced to shutdown April 19 by a condensate leak.

"It's still uncertain when it will be back online," said Gassco spokesman Kjell Varlo Larsen, adding that service provider at the plant, StatoilHydro ASA (STL.OS) "is preparing to start the work to repair the leak." Kollsnes can process up to 143 million cubic meters of gases a day, making it Norway's biggest processing plant, but was unlikely to have been operating at that level at this time of year when demand is lower.

"There isn't a leak anymore because the pressure at the plant is down," Larsen said, adding that an investigation is being carried out into the glitch.

"All shippers have been notified and have reduced their nominations. We will also use linepack - storage in pipelines - to compensate. Shippers can lift more gas from other fields that are available and time will tell" how well that's compensating for lost volumes, Larsen said.

Kollsnes is located on Norway's west coast and processes gas from some of the country's biggest fields, including Troll and Kvitebjoern. It is then piped to markets in Europe. A consortium of gas shippers called Gassled, including ConocoPhillips (COP), Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM), Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSA) and Total SA (TOT), owns the vast majority of Norway's gas infrastructure.

Company Web site: www.gassco.no

-By Elizabeth Adams, Dow Jones Newswires; [phone]; [e-mail]