Gullfaks and Statfjord: The Condeep Companions
In the Condeep era, from the mid-1970s and for roughly twenty years, 14
Condeep platforms were built in Norway: 11 for the Norwegian Continental
Shelf and three for the British sector—Beryl A, Brent B and Brent D.[REMOVE]Fotnote: Frigg CDP 1 and TCP 1 were located on the British and Norwegian sides of the sector boundary, respectively.
Gullfaks and Statfjord each ended up with three platforms sporting the
unmistakable concrete gravity base. Together, these six account for more
than half of all concrete platforms installed on the Norwegian shelf.
In the 1980s the two fields almost completely dominated deliveries of
finished Condeeps. The construction work left its mark on several
fjords in Rogaland and Sunnhordland during those years.
The projects also had major implications for the labour market, particularly in the
Nord-Jæren area and on Stord. All six concrete substructures were built at Hinnavågen outside Stavanger.
In the same city, Rosenberg Verft delivered three of the topsides—Statfjord B and C, as well as Gullfaks B —while Aker Stord built Statfjord A along with Gullfaks A and C.
The table shows that five of the platforms stand in roughly the same
water depth (135–145 metres), while Gullfaks C is positioned
significantly deeper (216 metres). Gullfaks C is also far heavier than
the other platforms, weighing in at around 1.5 million tonnes (see the
illustration of the size differences between the Gullfaks platforms).
Without Gullfaks and Statfjord, the Condeep era would have been a much
smaller chapter in Norwegian oil history.
