Statfjord discovered

Norwegian Petroleum Museum

Geologists from operator Mobil performed a veritable war dance of pure joy on the drill floor of Waage Drill I around a core which had just been retrieved from 2 700 metres beneath them.

— Press release about the commerciality declaration and the name "Statfjord".

Oil literally poured out of it. The Statfjord field had been discovered. This reservoir would prove to be the richest on the Norwegian continental shelf.

“We realised that something big was under way when we saw the celebratory mood of the Mobil people,” Torulf Gjerdrem, a member of the rig’s crew, told Oslo daily VG in 1994. He had been an eyewitness to the wild drill-floor dance on 19 February 20 years earlier.

Mobil sent a brief telex to the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate on 22 February 1974 to report that “an encouraging discovery of hydrocarbons has been made in the first exploration well in block 33/12”. The US major first issued an official press release on the discovery in April.

Sources:
Lerøen, B., & Norge Oljedirektoratet. (1997). 1001 brønn. Stavanger: Oljedirektoratet: 84.
Aftenposten 7. desember 1973. Boring på Brentfeltet påskyndet.
VG 06.12.1994. Dansen rundt gullkalven.