A North Sea platform which is expected to produce around 184 million barrels of oil and gas over its lifespan has officially been opened by Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg.

Statoil’s Gudrun field, which was discovered in 1975, currently produces around 30,000 barrels of oil equivalent every day.

The oil and gas is processed on a platform located 50 kilometres south of Gudrun. The gas is then piped to Europe while the oil is sent to a processing facility for shipment.

Statoil’s Chief Executive Helge Lund said: “Gudrun has proven that we are able to take our industry into a new era with global competition and local value creation.”