Peru protests shrink output at Pluspetrol

LIMA, March 21 (Reuters) - Argentina's Pluspetrol has partially stopped production at a block on an oil field in northern Peru after protesters stormed the facility and took control of the local airport, the company said on Friday.

Pluspetrol halted operations early on Thursday at Block 1AB in the Loreto region in Peru's Amazon jungle "in order to safeguard the physical integrity of its workers, the local population and to guarantee the security of the installations," the company said in a statement.

For every day of the suspension, Pluspetrol said it will lose 23,000 of the some 47,000 barrels it extracts from Peru's jungle each day.

Poor Peruvian communities often pressure mining and energy companies to build schools or hospitals in remote regions.

Earlier this month, Pluspetrol was forced to suspend operations in Block 8 after indigenous protesters held some company workers hostage. In January, it stopped some operations at Block 1AB because of protests around social assistance.

Pluspetrol is one of Argentina's biggest natural gas producers and leads a consortium that pumps gas from Peru's massive Camisea field, one of the largest reserves in South America. (Reporting by Dana Ford; editing by Leslie Adler)