The Gina Krog platform is tied into Sleipner A (photo: Ole Jørgen Bratland/Statoil)

At 17.02 CET on 30 June, Statoil started production on the Gina Krog oil and gas field in the North Sea. Statoil and the partners have invested a total of some NOK 31 billion in the development of the Gina Krog field.

“We are proud to have delivered Gina Krog with a good HSE record and in line with the cost estimate in the plan for development and operation,” says Margareth Øvrum, Statoil’s executive vice president for Technology, Projects and Drilling, thanking suppliers and partners for good collaboration in the project.

More than 600 people have been working on the Gina Krog field since last August preparing the platform for production.

Gina Krog is a global project with substantial Norwegian deliveries. For example, the the living quarter has been built at Stord, more than half of the equipment packages come from Norway, and all drilling and well services are performed by Norwegian suppliers.

The Gina Krog platform is tied in to Sleipner A and uses both processing capacity on the platform and existing pipelines for sending the gas to the marked in Europe.

“This illustrates how we can maximise value creation and realise new projects on the NCS by utilising existing infrastructure,” Øvrum says.

Oil from the field is transported by a floating storage and offloading unit (FSO) which will be located on the field.

Gina Krog was initially a small-size gas discovery made in 1974. In 2007 and 2008 oil was struck, which shows the importance of near-field exploration.

“We believe it is possible to maintain high levels of activity on the NCS up to, and beyond 2030. We have a very good infrastructure which we will leverage to add value for Statoil and society for a long time to come,” says Statoil’s executive vice president for Development and Production, Arne Sigve Nylund, adding, “The field will be operated from Statoil’s Stavanger offices, whereas the helicopter and base services will be run from Sola and Dusavika.”

Gina Krog will create jobs both onshore and offshore for 15-20 years. In addition, Gina Krog will help extend the productive life and maintain jobs at Sleipner A and Kårstø.

Tags: Statoil