Gullfaks oil field

Gullfaks is an oil and gas field in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea operated by Equinor. It was discovered in 1978, in block 34/10, at a water depth of 130-230 meters.Petterson, O., Storli, A., Ljosland, E., Nygaard, O., Massie, I., and Carlsen, H., The Gullfaks Field, 1992, in Giant Oil and Gas Fields of the Decade, 1978-1988, AAPG Memoir 54, Halbouty, M.T., editor, Tulsa: American Association of Petroleum Geologists, , pp. 429-446 The initial recoverable reserve is , and the remaining recoverable reserve in 2004 is . This oil field reached peak production in 2001 at . It has satellite fields Gullfaks South, Rimfaks, Skinfaks and Gullveig.

In November 2022, the Hywind Tampen floating offshore wind farm started supplying power to the Gullfaks platforms.

Platforms The project consists of three production platforms Gullfaks A (1986), Gullfaks B (1988), and Gullfaks C (1989). Gullfaks C sits below the waterline and the height of the total structure measured from the sea floor is ,Structures making it taller than the Eiffel Tower. Gullfaks C holds the record of the heaviest object that has ever been moved to another position, relative to the surface of the Earth with a total displacement between 1.4 and 1.5 million tons. The platform produces of oil. The Tordis field, which is located southeast of Gullfaks C, has a subsea separation manifold installed in 2007 which is tied-back to the existing Gullfaks infrastructure.Amazing Structures, author Michael Pollard Page 34,35 +Gullfaks platform design dataInstallationGullfaks AGullfaks BGullfaks CTypeConcrete gravity platform Concrete gravity platform Concrete gravity platform FunctionDrilling, production, storage, accommodationDrilling, production, accommodationDrilling, production, accommodationLocationSW part of fieldNW part of fieldWater depth, metres135142216Fabrication substructureNorwegian Contractors StavangerNorwegian Contractors StavangerNorwegian Contractors StavangerTopsides design Aker Engineering and Foster WheelerAker Engineering and Foster WheelerSubstructure weight, tonnes340,000173,000370,000Topside weight, tonnes40,00025,00049,000Accommodation (crew)330160300Legs434Cells241924Storage capacity, barrels180,000NilWell slots4242Wells21 production, 17 injection20 production, 13 injectionThroughput oil, barrels per day (bpd)245,000150,000Water injection, bpd4 x 95,00095,000Platform installed19861987May 1989Production start19871988January 1990Oil production to2 x SPM buoys (8,400 m3/hour)Gullfaks AGas production toStatfjord CStatfjord C

Incidents Between November 2009 and May 2010 a well being drilled from Gullfaks C experienced multiple well control incidents which were investigated by Petroleum Safety Authority Norway and summarized in a report released on 19 November 2010. The report stated that only chance prevented the final and most serious incident on 19 May 2010 from becoming a full-scale disaster. The report also questioned why the Statoil’s probe that was supposed to assess which barriers functioned "and thereby helped to prevent or limit the hazard" did not seem to have been assessed.

On 29, April 2016, a helicopter carrying oil workers crashed while flying from the Gullfaks oil field to Bergen. All 13 people on board were killed.

Geology The reservoir consists of delta sandstones from the Middle Jurassic Brent Group, shallow-marine Lower Jurassic Cook Formation sandstones, and the fluvial-channel and delta-plain Lower Jurassic Statfjord Formation.

Gullfaks oil field

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