While Statoil has been the operator during the field’s development, GDF Suez will operate it during the production phase.
The Gjoa field 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.
GDF Suez E&P Norge managing director Terje Overvik said that for the first time, GDF Suez becomes a production operator on the Norwegian continental shelf.
The field has been developed with a semi-submersible production platform and five subsea installations.
The daily production capacity of the Gjoa platform is 17 million cubic metres 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.
The field is expected to produce gas and oil for the next 15 years, but the platform is designed for a lifetime of at least 30 years.
