Phillips head office moves to Tananger

This made sense during the early years because of the need to maintain close contacts with the Norwegian government for applications and negotiations.

The company had an operational base in Stavanger from as early as 1966. Until the end of 1973, however, its scope was confined to base activities and the development of Ekofisk.

Stavanger also became the location for the company’s Ekofisk region, established in 1974 to take responsibility for production licence 018 – known as the Greater Ekofisk Area.

This organisation was formally subordinate to the Oslo head office, but had direct reporting lines to the head of the London-based Europe-Africa division in Phillips. That reflected the big dimensions of the Ekofisk development. A separate Norway division was not established until 1981.

The level of activity on the Norwegian continental shelf increased steadily during the 1970s as more and more platforms came on stream.

That led in turn to growing support and follow-up operations at the base in Tananger. At the same time, more of the administrative work earlier performed in London and Bartlesville was moved to Norway.

The head office functions were moved from Oslo to Tananger in September 1976, leaving a small team in the capital responsible for maintaining close ties with central government.