Norwegian oil company OKEA has restarted oil production from its Draugen field in the Norwegian sea following maintenance works that began a month ago.
The work at the offshore oil field started on June 23 and ended July 20th, two days ahead of schedule, OKEA said Thursday.
As previously reported, OKEA had decided to start maintenance works on its Draugen platform earlier than initially planned, following the Norwegian government's decision in April to cut oil production to support oil prices.
It on Thursday said that the start-up of production went according to plan and production started July 21st, "just in time to meet the agreed tanker loading."
"The loading is ongoing and will be finished July 23rd," OKEA said.
During the maintenance, up to 169 people were on board the platform over a period of four weeks, 89 people on dayshift, and 80 on nightshift.
According to OKEA, the scope of works included the following:
Tor Bjerkestrand, SVP Operations, OKEA, said: "Large parts of the offshore organization have been onboard for a three-week period. Some have started the work period one week ahead of the normal schedule, some have extended their work period after normal work schedule, adjusting their summer vacation to meet the turnarounds needs.”
Draugen sits in the southern part of the Norwegian Sea, at a water depth of 250 meters. The field has been in production since 1993 with peak output achieved in 2001.
OKEA acquired its interests in the Draugen and Gjøa offshore fields in Norway for 4.52 Billion NOK (US$526 million) from Shell in 2018.