Norway’s block 34/10 was so attractive that it had been nicknamed the “golden block”, and became Statoil’s baptism of fire as an operator. Although the company had to share it with two partners, it secured the operatorship of the first licence on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS) with only domestic licensees.

The approval for the Gullfaks development was granted by Parliament on June 10, 1981. While the main focus of the proposal was on bringing gas from Statfjord to shore, Gullfaks was included somewhat unexpectedly, as noted during the parliamentary debate.

Gullfaks Phase I was approved by the Norwegian Parliament at the same time as the decision to construct the Statpipe pipeline crossing the Norwegian Trench and to develop the Kårstø processing plant in Rogaland. These three projects progressed in parallel throughout the 1980s.

With the handover of Statfjord and production start on Gullfaks in the winter of 1986/87, Statoil could at last call itself an operating oil company.

Gullfaks sits in the Tampen area. Two other large fields are here as well. All three came on stream between 1979 and 1992—towed out to graze on the continental‑shelf “pasture” and fatten the coffers of the state and Statoil/Equinor. What do Gullfaks, Statfjord and Snorre have in common—and what sets them apart? And can they beat Troll?

Gullfaks shares some interesting similarities with Gullfakse, the horse of the jotun Hrungnir, who famously lost a race against Odin’s steed, Sleipner.

Gullfaks began production at an unfortunate time—just over a year earlier, the oil price had collapsed to one-third of its previous level.

Gullfaks can be summed up in three words: large, expensive, and profitable.

Gullfaks is a pioneer field in terms of Norwegian national identity on the Norwegian continental shelf. It was also a first mover and the most significant in key areas. Together with other factors, these are strong reasons to document the field.

Oil companies on the Norwegian Continental Shelf are not taxed based on what they actually sell their oil for, but rather on the Petroleum Price Board’s estimate of what the oil from each field could reasonably have sold for. These reference price estimates provide a useful indicator of the quality of Gullfaks crude.

Gullfaks oil is sold under “Dated Brent” contracts. To understand what that means, it helps to look at the two words — “Brent” and “dated” — separately.

From the winter of 1985 to the summer of 1986—shortly before Gullfaks began production—the oil price fell from 30 to 10 dollars per barrel. One of the key reasons for this dramatic drop was that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) was losing its grip on the global oil market.

On September 25, 1986, King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden visited Stavanger for the first time. During his ten-hour stay in the city, he had the opportunity to take a closer look at both the Gullfaks C substructure and the deck of Gullfaks B.

White shirt, tie, and a navy-blue knitted cardigan with a collar - that was the outfit the management team on Gullfaks C was instructed to wear when royalty came to visit. But had they done any other preparations?

On June 29, 1991, Gullfaks B employees launched a replica of the platform in Besserudtjernet at the bottom of the Holmenkollen ski jump. The event was Gullfaks' contribution to the popular TV show «Take the Chance».

The 1994 winter Olympics at Lillehammer north of Oslo was acclaimed as a sporting and organisational success. As one of nine main sponsors, Statoil supplied the fuel for the Olympic flame – which is why the torch relay around Norway also called at Gullfaks, the most Norwegian field of them all.