Gas deliveries from Statoil's Åsgard field in the Norwegian Sea are now set to start on 1 October as originally planned.
This reverses earlier fears by the group that delays in completing the Åsgard B gas floater following the summer's offshore strike would make it impossible to meet the deadline.
"We've recovered the time lost in the stoppage, partly by postponing the start to production from Smørbukk," says Hans Kristiansen, completion manager for the platform.
His aim is to have seven Midgard wells in production before 1 October. These will be able to meet Åsgard's gas delivery commitments for the moment.
Plans call for Smørbukk to come on stream from two wells by 1 November.
The flare was ignited on Åsgard B early in the morning of 10 September, when the first gas arrived from Statoil's Kårstø gas treatment plant north of Stavanger to test the platform's facilities before they begin taking in field gas.
Water will start being emptied from the 45-kilometre flowline linking Midgard to Åsgard B on 18 September with the aid of Kårstø gas, Mr Kristiansen reports.
"This operation is scheduled to take 10 days, and represents the biggest challenge before we can start gas flowing from our own wells."
Åsgard B can produce up to 48 million cubic metres of gas per day, but initial output will be roughly 18 million. That will increase as more wells are activated.