Which company operated the first oil well drilled in the North Sea, completed in the Ekofisk field in 1969?

Phillips Petroleum Company operated the first successful North Sea oil well, completed in the Ekofisk field in 1969.

Phillips Petroleum discovered Ekofisk in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea in 1969. Commercial production began in 1971, making the field a foundation of Norway’s offshore petroleum industry. The discovery helped establish the North Sea as a major producing region despite its difficult weather and engineering conditions.

Ekofisk lies in chalk reservoirs. Over time, production reduced pressure in the reservoir, causing seabed subsidence. Operators responded with water injection and major platform and infrastructure adaptations. The field therefore became important not only for its discovery but also for advances in offshore reservoir management.

Phillips Petroleum later became part of ConocoPhillips through corporate developments. The original operator should not be confused with Norway’s national company Equinor, formerly Statoil, which became a major participant in the country’s petroleum sector.