Our share of the area's production in 2008 was 250 mbbl per day of oil, condensate and NGL, and 46 mmcm per day (777 mmcf per day) of gas, or 314 mboe in total per day.

This region is characterised by petroleum reserves located at water depths between 250 and 500 metres. The reserves are partly under high pressure and at high temperatures. These conditions have made development and production more difficult and have challenged the participants to develop new types of platforms and new technology, such as floating processing systems with subsea production templates. We plan to increase efficiency by further coordinating our operations in the area and by stemming the decline in production from the mature fields through increased seismic activity and well maintenance. In addition, we intend to expand our activities by utilising our installed production and transportation capacity before building new infrastructure.

The Heidrun platform is the largest concrete tension leg platform ever built. Most of the oil from Heidrun is shipped by shuttle tankers to our Mongstad crude oil terminal for onward transportation to customers. Gas from Heidrun provides the feedstock for the methanol plant at Tjeldbergodden in Norway. Additional gas volumes are exported through the Åsgard Transport System (ÅTS) to gas markets in continental Europe.

Kristin is a gas condensate field in the south-western section of the Operations North area. The Kristin development is the first high-temperature/high-pressure (HTHP) field developed with subsea installations. The pressure and temperature in the reservoir - 900 bar and 170 degrees Celsius, respectively - are higher than any other developed field on the NCS. The stabilised condensate is exported to a joint Åsgard and Kristin storage vessel, and the rich gas is transported to shore via the ÅTS to the gas processing facility at Kårstø. In 2008, the last of twelve wells was completed and entered into production.

Mikkel is a gas and condensate field. Production from two seabed templates is tied to the subsea installation at Midgard for onward transport to the Åsgard B gas processing platform.

Njord consists of two installations. Njord A is a platform with drilling facilities and a production plant for oil and gas. Njord B is a storage vessel for oil. The Njord field has produced oil since 1997, and gas exports started in late 2007 via ÅTS and Kårstø.

The Norne field has been developed with a production and storage ship tied to subsea templates. This ship carries processing facilities on its deck and storage tanks for oil. Processed crude oil can be transferred over the stern to shuttle tankers. Norne is connected to gas markets in continental Europe through a link with ÅTS.

Snøhvit is the first developed gas field in the Barents Sea. Twenty wells will produce natural gas from three gas reservoirs: Snøhvit, Askeladd and Albatross. All the offshore installations are subsea, which makes Snøhvit one of the first major developments without production facilities offshore.

The natural gas is transported to shore through a 143-kilometre-long pipeline, and it is landed on Melkøya, where it is processed at our LNG plant. This plant is Europe's largest export factory for LNG. LNG is shipped to customers in Europe and the USA in tankers. The first shipment took place in late 2007.

The LNG plant has suffered from operational challenges and there are still some uncertainties related to the timing of regular and stable operations. Performance and regularity improved significantly in 2008. One major maintenance stop in 2009 is planned to achieve further increases in capacity and regularity.

The Urd fields, Svale and Stær, are located ten kilometres and five kilometres north of the Norne field, respectively. The fields are produced through subsea facilities with the well stream tied back to the Norne FPSO.

The Åsgard field contains three fields: Smørbukk, Smørbukk South and Midgard. The field was developed with the Åsgard A production ship for oil, the Åsgard B semi-submersible floating production platform for gas and the Åsgard C storage vessel. The subsea production installations are the most extensive in the world, with a total of 53 wells grouped in 18 seabed templates. Furthermore, the Åsgard B platform is the largest floating gas processing centre in the world and Åsgard A is one of the largest floating production ships ever built.

The Åsgard development links the Haltenbanken area to Norway's gas transport system in the North Sea. Gas from the field is piped through the Åsgard Transport System (ÅTS) to the processing plant at Kårstø and on to receiving terminals in Emden and Dornum in Germany. Oil produced at the Åsgard A vessel and condensate from the Åsgard C storage vessel are shipped from the field in shuttle tankers.