Cyclone intensifies off West Australia, mines shut

SYDNEY, Feb 17 (Reuters) - A powerful tropical cyclone gathering strength off the coast of West Australia was likely to cross the country's remote Pilbara mining region early on Monday, forcing many resource companies to shut down operations.

The sparsely populated Pilbara region, some 1,900 km (1,180 miles) north of Perth, is home to scores of iron ore, manganese, nickel and bauxite deposits as well as nearby offshore oil and gas wells.

Australian media said Rio Tinto (RIO.AX: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) (RIO.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Woodside (WPL.AX: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) were shutting down operations while Chevron (CVX.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) said on Sunday it had already curtailed some of its operations in north west Australia.

"Chevron Australia's cyclone preparations to secure personnel safety and equipment integrity for its operations on Barrow and Thevenard Islands in northwest Australia are well advanced with non-essential personnel demobilised yesterday and operations being shut in today," a spokesman told Reuters.

Last week, Australian oil and gas producer Santos Ltd (STO.AX: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) already shut off their oil fields off Western Australia. Another Australian oil producer AED Oil Ltd. (AED.AX: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) also stopped production at its oil field in the Timor Sea, due to the storms in the area.

Australia's Bureau of Meteorology said on Sunday, Tropical Cyclone Nicholas was estimated to be 320 km (200 miles) north of Karratha and would be upgraded to a Category 4 cyclone from category 3 currently.

"There is the risk of an impact from a Severe Tropical Cyclone on the west Pilbara coast on Monday or early Tuesday, with gales extending as far east as Whim Creek," the Bureau of Meteorology said in a statement.

"Gales may extend south to Cape Cuvier and adjacent inland areas later on Monday or on Tuesday."

Last March, a powerful cyclone in the region forced oil companies, including Santos Ltd and Woodside Petroleum Ltd, to shut about 180,000 barrels a day of production, half of Australia's output, for nearly a week.