Gulftide, the drilling barge that served as the first
production platform in the Norwegian sector of the
North Sea in 1971

gulftide

The first oil production in Norway.

Phillips Petroleum was the first company to produce oil from the Norwegian sector of the North Sea. In summer 1971 test production started at Ekofisk. from Gulftide.
"We hope the results of the test production are positive, and that they will bring Norway into the ranks of oil-producing countries. That is why the commencement of oil production may prove to be a milestone in Norwegian economic history",
said then prime minister, Trygve Bratteli, on 9 June 1971 onboard the Gulftide rig. The prime minister had journeyed to Ekofisk together with many other industry leaders and politicians this early summer's day to officially open production from Norway's first oil field.
It was a few days until test production got going from the first well. But on 15 June - some 18 months after Ekofisk was discovered - the first oil flowed from the subsea wellhead onto the Gulftide.
gulftide1
Gulftide in production at Ekofisk
gulftide2
Gulftide still at Ekofisk
gulftide3
Gulftide, possibly drilling at Nova Scotia or the Ivory Coast
In any case, the water depth is not much
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