Work to resume at Argentina's Pluspetrol in Peru

LIMA, March 24 (Reuters) - Argentina's Pluspetrol said on Monday its operations will resume shortly at an oil field in Peru's Amazon, where protesters killed a police officer over the weekend.

Pluspetrol halted work at Block 1AB in the Loreto region in Peru's northern jungle early on Thursday after protesters demanding higher salaries took it over, along with a local airstrip.

On Saturday, one police officer was killed and five others wounded when they tried to remove workers from company installations.

"The operations are still stopped -- not because they cannot work, but because we are checking to see whether there is damage," said Roberto Ramallo, director of Pluspetrol North, who added the company has control of its facilities now.

"Between today (Monday) and tomorrow (Tuesday) we will be able to restart operations," Ramallo told Reuters.

For every day of the suspension, Pluspetrol has said it will be able to pump only about half of the 47,00 barrels it extracts from Peru's jungle each day.

Poor communities in Peru, which is rich in natural resources, often pressure mining and energy companies to build schools and hospitals, or provide jobs.

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

Pluspetrol is one of Argentina's biggest natural gas producers and leads a group that pumps gas from Peru's massive Camisea field, in southern Peru, one of the largest reserves in South America. (Reporting by Teresa Cespedes; Writing by Dana Ford; Editing by Christian Wiessner)