No lost-time injuries have been suffered on Statoil's Siri field off Denmark during its first year of operation, which began on 1 March 1999.
Yielding some 12 million barrels of oil during these 12 months, the commercially-marginal development reached plateau in July.
"We suffered greater operational problems than expected during the first year," admits Svein G Larsen, general manager of Statoil Efterforskning & Produktion in Denmark.
"Combined with periods of bad weather, this means that production has been rather lower than planned.
"Despite these problems, however, Siri flowed well. Without the good and creative commitment of our personnel, we wouldn't have produced as much as we have done over the year."
Roughly 20 per cent of the field's total recoverable reserves, put at 60 million barrels, were recovered during the first 12 months. Current output from five wells is roughly 50,000 barrels per day.
"Our aim is to maintain plateau production until the late summer," says Mr Larsen, who reports that Siri is likely to go off stream some time between 2005 and 2007.