Creation of the 1984 committee

Norwegian Petroleum Museum

According to the licence terms, the earliest date when a transfer of the Statfjord operatorship could take place was 7 August 1984. That was 10 years after the field had been declared commercial.

— "let us have the opportunity to choose workplace freely within the Norwegian oil industry" says Mobil employees. Contribution from the 1984 committee, in the Status magazine from 1980, vol. 7

Rumours circulated in Mobil that Statoil employees would get all the best jobs should the operatorship change. Some personnel in the US company also regarded being compelled to transfer to another employer as a diktat.

Mobil employees organised their opposition to a change of operator through what they called the 1984 club or committee. Appointed by the company’s working environment committee (AMU) in April 1980, this body was responsible for dealing with issues relating to a possible transfer of the Statfjord operatorship.

The committee comprised representatives from Mobil’s AMU as well as the Statfjord Workers Union (SaF) and Mobil’s Onshore Personnel Association (MOP).

An opinion poll conducted by the committee and published in the Mobil Explorer house journal during 1980 showed that 66.5 per cent of the company’s employees were opposed to a change of operatorship. That nevertheless happened on 1 January 1987, when the bulk of Mobil’s organisation transferred to Statoil.

Sources:
Lerøen, Bjørn Vidar. Drops of black gold . Stavanger 2002, p 158.
Mobil Explorer , May/June 1980 pp 6-7. “Mobil 1984? Statoils opsjon tema for Employee Forums” .
Status , no 11, 1980, p 4. Contribution from the 1984 committee. “La oss få beholde muligheten til å velge arbeidsplass fritt innen norsk oljevirksomhet, sier Mobil-ansatte ” .