The target of reducing operating costs on the Statfjord field in the North Sea by NOK 690 million has been reached, one year ahead of schedule. A total of 220 employees have been redeployed.
Through the SF 2007 improvement programme, the Statfjord organisation planned to make annual savings in operating costs of more than NOK 690 million. In 2001, total operating costs were about NOK 2.7 billion.
Economy measures were necessary if Statoil was to reach its target of continued growth and extended lifetime for the mature areas of the North Sea.
"For Statoil and the Tampen area, extended liftetime and increased profitability in the late life on the Statfjord field are important," stresses Lars Christian Bacher, senior vice president of the Tampen business cluster. "Statfjord had an ambitious target of implementing the restructuring by the end of 2006. The cost reduction target had already been achieved by the end of 2005."
Of the 700 employees in the Statfjord organisation, 220 have been redeployed following the programme. Most of these now work in other parts of Statoil, while some have taken early retirement.
"There were many employees who found the reorganisation demanding, especially in the beginning," says Asbjørn Løve, project manager for SF 2007. "But thanks to a huge effort by those involved, things have gone smoothly. The group proposed solutions, and new tasks were adapted to suit each of the 220 employees."
Basic staffing on each of the three Statfjord platforms has been reduced to 30-35 persons. That leaves space to carry out the modifications required on the facilities in connection with the late life project. Statfjord late life involves converting from oil to gas production, and should improve the recovery factor for gas on the field from 54 to 75 per cent.
"Restructuring the organisation will give us greater flexibility, efficiency and the opportunity for more collaboration across the Statfjord organisation," says Mr Løve. "This is necessary to secure a robust organisation for the future. But we wouldn't have achieved such changes without a good, close collaboration with the safety service, union officials and the rest of the organisation. Everyone has done their bit to achieve this."