Field

The Draugen field is one of the largest oil fields on the Norwegian continental shelf and the first one that came into production in the Norwegian Sea. It is developed with a concrete platform with one leg and several underwater installations. Here you can read about the reservoir's structure and the challenges related to the development and construction of the installations in the field.
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Development
Topsides assembly and contract problems
Stavanger’s Rosenberg Verft yard won the job of assembling the Draugen topsides in early 1990. This massive jigsaw formed an integrated structure, with components and equipment packages put together at the construction site.
Development
Arbitration win for Kværner
A big battle was fought over the bill for fabricating the Draugen platform topsides at the Kværner Rosenberg yard in Stavanger. The dispute ultimately had to be settled by arbitration.
Development
Drilling on Draugen – a completely new concept
Great emphasis was placed by Norske Shell on safety and the working environment when the drilling module for the Draugen platform came to be developed.
Geology and Reservoir
The Draugen Reservoir
Draugen lies in block 6407/9. Included in the eighth licensing round in the autumn of 1983, it was awarded the following March to Shell as operator and partners Statoil and BP.
Platforms
The architect’s role
Combining good and pleasant accommodation with safe and effective access to work areas was a key requirement in designing the living quarters for the Draugen production platform. Bernt Bekke landed this job in 1988.
Platforms
The topsides – design and content
The Draugen platform’s topsides – the part which rests on the concrete gravity base structure (GBS) – is based on an integrated design. That gives a compact solution with no use of modules.
Development
Awarding the production licence
Norwegian blocks first became available above the 62nd parallel (the northern limit of the North Sea) with the fifth licensing round in 1979. And acreage was finally awarded across the whole Norwegian continental shelf (NCS) – from the North to the Barents Seas – during the eighth round in 1984.
Development
Contracts awarded in 1989-90
Norske Shell found 1989 a busy year for contract negotiations and awards, related not only to Draugen but also to its Troll A gas development in the North Sea.
Development
Squaring the circle
The Draugen platform comprises a round concrete monotower and an almost square steel topside. Putting drilling and oil transport functions in a single shaft posed a range of safety challenges. Moving from circular to square cross-section also proved testing.
Development
Completing and installing
Mating the concrete support structure and topsides for the Draugen facility and installing it on the field were not entirely without complications.
Mating and tow-out.
Development
The Condeep story
When Norway became an oil nation in the late 1960s, few people expected Norwegian construction companies to be among the biggest suppliers to the forthcoming North Sea developments.
Platforms
The Sleipner sinking and Draugen
The concrete gravity base structure (GBS) for the Sleipner A platform sank to the bottom of the Gands Fjord outside Stavanger during a test submersion on 23 August 1991.
Platforms
Skirt piling
When oil and gas production moved into deeper waters, the loads on gravity base structures (GBS) used to support platforms increased.
Platforms
The ringing phenomenon
Model tests with the Heidrun tension-leg platform found that large irregular waves created oscillations which had a big impact on total tension in the tethers. The effect is termed “ringing”.
Platforms
The unique Draugen platform
Shell declared the Draugen field commercial in May 1987. It had then assessed many different platform solutions since the second appraisal well in August 1985.
Platforms
Medal award for Draugen design
Consulting engineer Olav Olsen was presented in 1994 with the highly regarded Gustave Magnel gold medal on the basis of his work with the concrete gravity base structure (GBS) for Draugen.
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