On Thursday, Crown Prince Haakon undertook the formal opening of the Grane platform in the North Sea, following a tradition that started in 1988, when his grandfather King Olav opened Oseberg, and was followed up by his father King Harald, who opened the Troll B platform in 1995.
In addition to the Crown Prince, the Minister of Petroleum and Energy Einar Steensnæs and representatives of the authorities and the most important contractors in the Grane project were also present.
The ceremony was filmed at Grane and broadcasted to Hydro's offices in Bergen and Sandvika, so that as many employees as possible could join in the celebration.
Ahead of schedule
Oil production from the Grane field started on 23 September, three weeks ahead of schedule.
The field is estimated to hold recoverable reserves amounting to 700 million barrels, and will be one of the top producing field on the Norwegian continental shelf when production approaches peak level.
The field has been developed in close collaboration with Aker Kværner, who have designed and built the whole platform.
"The development of the Grane field represents the sum of knowledge and experience built up through 30 years on the Norwegian continental shelf," said Hydro's President and CEO Eivind Reiten at the opening of Hydro's fourth energy seminar in Bergen on Thursday.
The Grane platform was completed ahead of schedule and considerably below budget.
"An important reason for this is the thorough work carried out at the engineering stage and the close collaboration between Hydro, our partners and the authorities," said Reiten.