BP PLC (BP) Wednesday said its Valhall oil field in Norway will remain closed for "weeks" after it was closed down April 2 for checks and maintenance related to pipeline corrosion.

The field produces around 50,000 barrels of oil a day. Company spokesman Jan Erik Geirmo said the unplanned outage was caused by microbacterial-related corrosion of hundreds of meters of pipelines. He could not be specific about when the field would restart, saying: "It's a question of weeks" still.

Valhall is in the southern part of the North Sea and is routed via pipeline to Ekofisk field from where it is piped to Teesside in the U.K.

BP operates Valhall and it, and Enterprise Oil Norge and Hess Norge each have a 28.09% stake in the field while Total SA (TOT) has a 15.72% stake.

Company Web site: www.bp.com

-By Elizabeth Adams, Dow Jones Newswires; +44 (0) 207 842 9386; elizabeth.adams@dowjones.com