A total of 90 per cent of 550 Norsk Hydro employees have accepted the offer of a job in connection with the change in operator in the Tampen area.
Statoil is taking over operatorship for the Snorre, Visund, Tordis and Vigdis fields in the North Sea on 1 January 2003. Consequently 550 Hydro employees were given the opportunity to change employer.
Statoil is now sending out employment contracts, says Margareth Johansen, coordinator for the transfer of personnel.
“We are pleased that so many want to join us because we need both the skills and continuity of these employees,” reports Svein G Larsen, who is in charge of the group's project for the takeover of the fields in the Tampen area.
A working group has been set up by Hydro and Statoil to ease the integration of the personnel. Most of the new employees will be working in the operations organisations for Snorre and Visund, based in Stavanger and Bergen respectively. The remainder will fill other positions in the group.
The agreement for the change in operator dates back to 1999 when Hydro acquired the Saga oil company, in which Statoil held a 20 per cent stake.