Australia's oil platforms out as cyclone passes

SYDNEY, March 9 (Reuters) Much of Australia's western offshore oil and gas fields remained shut-in today as a late-season cyclone crossed the coast line, but operators are bracing for a second storm threatening operations.

Two gas platforms and the Karratha gas plant at the North West Shelf joint venture in Western Australia state were still functioning, but the Cossack-Pioneer production ship, which was disconnected late yesterday, remained in safe waters, spokesman Peter Kermode of operator Woodside Petroleum Ltd said.

''There's another cyclone brewing in the region and it looks like it may become an issue in the next couple of days,'' Kermode said.

Cossack-Pioneer, a floating production storage and offloading vessel, produces about 100,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd).

The nearby 7,000-bpd Legendre project also remained offline, Woodside spokesman Tony Johnson said.

Santos Ltd said the production vessel at its 55,000-bpd Mutineer-Exeter oil field, which had moved west to avoid the cyclone, was expected to return to its location over the weekend.

''Preparation will commence as soon as possible for re-connection and production start-up,'' the company said.

On the heels of Cyclone George, which packed 275 kph winds as it slammed into the Western Australian coastline, Cyclone Jacob was also heading towards land, though still far off the coast, south of Australia's Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean.

Australia produced about 418,000 barrels of oil per day in 2006, according to government figures.

REUTERS DKS PM0655