Cyclone Isobel, Australia s first tropical cyclone of the season, has shut in at least 155,000 barrels per day (bpd) of offshore oil production, but output is likely to resume soon, operators said on Wednesday. Operators Woodside Petroleum Ltd. (WPL.AX: Quote, Profile , Research) and Santos Ltd. (STO.AX: Quote, Profile , Research) said they expected to resume operations shortly after the cyclone passes the coast, which is expected by the evening.

Woodside, Australia's top independent oil and gas company, said it suspended production from its 100,000 bpd Cossack Pioneer field on Tuesday evening, while oil and gas producer Santos said it has also shut down production at its Mutineer-Exeter field off the coast of Western Australia.

"The cyclone is forecast to cross the coast today and once it has crossed the coast, we will sail back to location," Santos spokeswoman Kathryn Mitchell said. Production capacity at the Mutineer-Exeter field was recorded at 55,000 bdp at the end of the third quarter last year.

Tropical Cyclone Isobel was rated as a category one storm, the lowest in a five-point scale and has winds of up to 95 kmh (60 mph) near its centre.

Woodside s shares were down 0.9 percent at A$37.99 ($30.15) at 0119 GMT, while Santos' shares were down 0.7 percent at A$9.82.

Woodside's spokesman Peter Kermode said production at two other offshore gas platforms, North Rankin and Goodwyn, were not affected by the cyclone and were operating as usual. Cyclone Isobel has revived memories of Cyclone Glenda, a destructive category four storm, which forced oil and gas fields to shut down and thousands of west Australians to take shelter when it hit the region last March.

Australia s Bureau of Meteorology (www.bom.gov.au) said on Tuesday a cyclone warning was in place for coastal waters extending another 550 km (340 miles) north to Cape Leveque and inland to the Pilbara region.

The Pilbara region is home to more than 12,000 people and includes Woodside Petroleum's multi-billion-dollar North West Shelf liquefied natural gas project at Karratha.

The six equal partners in the North West Shelf joint-venture, which also operates Cossack, are Woodside Petroleum Ltd. (WPL.AX: Quote, Profile , Research), BHP Billiton Plc./Ltd. (BHP.AX: Quote, Profile , Research)(BLT.L: Quote, Profile , Research), Chevron Corp. (CVX.N: Quote, Profile , Research), BP Plc. (BP.L: Quote, Profile , Research), Japan Australia LNG (MiMi) Pty. Ltd. and Woodside's 34 percent shareholder, Royal/Dutch Shell Group (RDSa.L: Quote, Profile , Research) (RDSb.L: Quote, Profile , Research). ($1=1.26 Australian Dollar)
(Por Fayen Wong, Reuters, 03/01/2007)