BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 13. Equinor has announced
that the 5,000th oil cargo has been exported from the Gullfaks
field in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea, marking another
milestone in the field’s long production history, Trend
reports.


When production began in 1986, Gullfaks was originally expected
to remain operational until 2007. However, more than two decades
later, the field continues to deliver weekly shipments to
international markets, with the majority of volumes supplied to
Europe.


Since start-up, Gullfaks has produced approximately 2.8 billion
barrels of oil equivalent, nearly double initial estimates. The
field also functions as an export hub for production from nearby
assets, including the Snorre and Visund fields, as well as multiple
subsea developments in the region.


Gullfaks crude is characterized by its light quality and low
sulphur content, making it suitable for refining into high-value
products such as gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, LPG and naphtha.
Deliveries are made to refineries across Sweden, the United Kingdom
and Poland, supporting fuel supply chains for transport, industry
and households.


The 5,000th cargo was delivered to the St1 refinery in
Gothenburg, where it is processed into a range of fuels distributed
through approximately 1,150 retail stations across Finland, Sweden
and Norway. Additional shipments are also sent to refineries in the
UK and Poland, as well as occasionally to Equinor’s Mongstad
refinery in Norway.







Oil from Gullfaks is transported using shuttle tankers with a
capacity of around 800,000 barrels, enabling flexible logistics
between the Norwegian continental shelf and European buyers.


Gullfaks production began with the Gullfaks A platform in 1986,
followed by Gullfaks B in 1988 and Gullfaks C in 1989. The field
ranks as Norway’s seventh-largest oil and gas field by original
reserves, following giants such as Troll, Statfjord, Ekofisk,
Oseberg, Åsgard and Johan Sverdrup.


Production peaked in 1994, while last year the field and its
associated subsea assets produced just over 17 million barrels of
oil. Part of the platform’s energy needs are now supplied by
electricity from the floating offshore wind farm Hywind Tampen,
reflecting growing integration of renewable power in offshore
operations.