The underlifting agreement

This second amendment has been called the underlifting agreement. The satellite units purchased the right to process up to 156 000 barrels (25 000 standard cubic metres) per day on Statfjord C, and the Norwegian licensees in the Statfjord Unit reduced their production from that platform to make room for this volume.

Since the British licensees were unwilling to accept such a reduction, they received their share of the output as if the satellites were not using the capacity. In reality, they received oil from Statfjord East and, after January 1995, from Statfjord North.

In order to give the satellites first priority in this way, the British licensees also received a fee of a few US cents per barrel from the satellite licensees. In principle, the Norwegian licensees purchased processing capacity for the satellites.

*To learn more, see: Tie-in deals on Statfjord , by Håkon Lavik.