GDF SUEZ in Norway: Gjoa Field Officially Opened

The Norwegian Minister of Petroleum and Energy, Terje Riis-Johansen, officially opened the Gjøa oil and gas field in the Norwegian North Sea in presence of Gerard Mestrallet, Chairman and CEO of GDF SUEZ.

Gjøa has been the largest recent industrial project in Norway. It has been developed by Statoil in close cooperation with GDF SUEZ which now is the production operator.

Gérard Mestrallet commented in the ceremony: “This event marks an important milestone for GDF SUEZ E&P Norge which is now and for the first time one of the 8 production operators in Norway, out of approximately 50 oil and gas companies working in Norway. Gjøa will enhance the security of supply of Europe and act as a hub in the Norwegian North Sea for future gas and oil developments. It shows GDF SUEZ’s will to invest in Norway for the long term.”

Gjøa has been part of the GDF SUEZ portfolio since 2003 with reserves estimated at 40 billion cubic meters of gas and 82 million barrels of oil.

The Gjøa field has been developed with a semi-submersible production platform and five subsea installations, with very high HSE standards. For the first time in the offshore oil and gas industry, the floating platform is fully powered by electricity from the mainland, reducing carbon dioxide emissions into the environment by 210,000 tons every year (the equivalent of annual emissions of 100,000 cars).

The daily production capacity of the Gjøa platform is 17 million cubic meters of gas and 87,000 barrels of oil. While the gas is transported directly to St. Fergus in Scotland through the Flags pipeline, the oil will be transported to the Mongstad refinery in Norway through the Troll II pipeline.

Gjøa will produce oil and gas for at least the next 15 years, but the Gjøa installations are designed for an operating life of 30 years. The Gjøa platform opens a new area in the Norwegian North Sea for production. From the start, the infrastructure acts as a hub for future developments, since the Vega and Vega South fields are produced through it.

The partners in Gjøa field are: GDF SUEZ (30%), Petoro (30%), Statoil (20%), Shell (12%) and RWE-DEA (8%).

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Source: GDF SUEZ, January 26, 2011;