STAVANGER, Norway, Nov. 8 (UPI) -- Production from the latest oil and gas field in the North Sea is expected to yield hydrocarbons for the next 15 years, an executive at Norway's Statoil said.
Norwegian energy company Statoil announced that it started production at the Gjoa oil and natural gas field in the Norwegian waters of the North Sea.
Oystein Michelsen, Statoil executive vice president for Norwegian exploration, said in a statement that "oil and gas are set to flow from Gjoa for at least 15 years to come."
The floatable drilling platform used to extract oil and gas from the field is the first to get its power supply from land-based facilities, the company added. This cuts the amount carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere by as much as 210,000 tons per year.
The platform sits about 27 miles off the northern coast of Norway. The field boasts recoverable reserves of around 82 million barrels of oil and nearly 1.5 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.
That amount, Statoil said, proves that Norway is competitive in the energy sector.
