Type:
Oil
Facility:
Production
Water Depth:
136
Installed:
2014
meters
Block:
34/10
Design:
Floating steel
Sub Structure:
0
Topsides Wgt:
0
tonnes
tonnes
Intro
Gullfaks OLS-2 is the second offshore loading system buoy serving the Gullfaks field in the northern North Sea. Like OLS-1, it provides a dedicated crude oil offloading and export interface to shuttle tankers. Commissioned alongside OLS-1, it enhances export capacity and operates in conjunction with the Gullfaks A/C platforms in ~130–220-m water depth.
Field
The Gullfaks field is a mature oil and gas province on the Norwegian continental shelf, discovered in 1978 and developed with concrete gravity platforms (A, B, C) producing oil and gas from Jurassic to Triassic reservoirs. It includes multiple satellite tie-backs and remains a core part of Norway’s offshore production infrastructure.
Facilities
Gullfaks OLS-2 operates as part of the field’s offloading system mirroring OLS-1, providing a buoy and hose-based interface for crude oil transfer from the Gullfaks platforms to shuttle tankers. The system includes a seabed base, buoyancy sections, swivel arrangements, flexible hoses and connection points engineered for North Sea export conditions. It is integrated with field export planning that sees oil separated, stabilized, and routed from the concrete gravity platforms through subsea manifolds and flowlines to the OLS buoys. The OLS installations are designed for reliability and redundancy, enabling continuous export operations with metering and safety systems supporting custody transfer and emergency disconnection. Mooring and structural supports are configured to withstand local marine conditions. Utility interfaces connect the buoys with topside control systems on the production platforms for monitoring and operation, while maintenance regimes ensure long-term service life in field export duties.
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