Statoil and its partners (GDF SUEZ and OMV) started production on the Gudrun oil and gas field in the North Sea.
"Gudrun is the first new Statoil-operated platform to come on stream on the Norwegian continental shelf since 2005. This is a red-letter day for the company," said Arne Sigve Nylund, Statoil's executive vice president for the Development and Production Norway business area.
The new field contributes to important production from the Norwegian shelf. Statoil expects to recover 184 million barrels of oil and gas (oil equivalent) from the field.
"Gudrun illustrates how we can maximise value creation and realise new projects on the Norwegian shelf by combining new field developments with existing pipelines and facilities," said Nylund.
Around 16.5 million man hours have gone into the Gudrun field development, and a significant number of suppliers from many different countries have contributed to this effort.
The Gudrun investment decision was made during the financial crisis. When the plan for development and operation (PDO) was submitted in 2010, Gudrun was Statoil's only mega-project (investments in excess of NOK 12 billion). Now Gudrun is the first in a long line of field developments operated by Statoil.
