Norway's StatoilHydro has seen marked improvements in production and well management after investing heavily in subsea research and technology.

The oil and gas major's head of subsea technology Oystein A Haland explained that wireline logs have been particularly effective in improving output from the country's assets in the North Sea.

"Adopting new solutions in these areas also yields substantial reductions in operating costs," he said, although the company maintains strong investment in training and development to ensure that the technology is deployed and maintained efficiently.

The company has this year broken records for enrolment on internal apprenticeships, with 168 students winning a place on training and development programmes run either from onshore training facilities or in an offshore environment.

Oyvin Jensen, Statoil's head of light well intervention, added that this form of technology has also been an effective way to boost to increase production while mitigating the effect of drilling on the environment.

Oil and Gas Directory: Training and Development