Norwegian oil and gas giant, Statoil, has marked 30 years of Gullfaks oil field, which started production on December 22, 1986.
The Gullfaks was the first field where Statoil was both the developer and the operator.
“Gullfaks is a prime example of the best that this industry has achieved in Norway,” said Gunnar Nakken , senior vice president for the operations west cluster.
He pointed out that Gullfaks also played a key role in Statoil’s development as an operating company.
“ Wise decisions, outstanding subsurface work, the use of new technology and good team work in the Norwegian petroleum cluster have more than tripled the expected field life and ensured enormous value creation from Gullfaks,” he added.
The first explorations in the 1970s indicated that this was a significant oil and gas reservoir; however, at the time the field was expected to run out not long into the new millennium. Today, the production horizon stretches towards 2040, the company said.
Water injection has been the main reason for the high recovery factor at Gullfaks. In addition, Statoil has developed subsea gas compression which accelerates gas production.
The name Gullfaks comes from “Gullblokken” (the Golden Block), as block 34/10 was known prior to its allocation in 1978. The Golden Block was awarded to a wholly Norwegian group consisting of Statoil (85%), Hydro (9%) and Saga (6%).
30 years on the seabed
December 22 is also the day Statoil opened the valves of its very first subsea well in Gullfaks.
More satellites have subsequently been linked to Gullfaks: Gullfaks South has been developed with installations on the seabed and came on stream in October 1998, with production of oil and condensate and reinjection of associated gas. Phase two started in October 2001, comprising production and export of gas, linked to the A and C platforms.
The Rimfaks satellite, consisting of three subsea templates, has production pipes linked to Gullfaks A, while Skinfaks has a production system linked to the templates in Gullfaks South. Another example is Gimle, situated between Gullfaks and Visund, which is connected to Gullfaks C.