2014 marks the 45th anniversary for ConocoPhillips' discovery of Ekofisk - Norway's first oil field. However, the company has been in Norway for 50 years.

The first Norwegian subsidiary – Phillips petroleum Norsk AS – was established with the Oslo Trade Registry Office on 25 November 50 years ago.

The objective was to gain access to exploration areas that were about to be opened on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. Having a Norwegian subsidiary would be an advantage. The initial Norwegian company, Phillips Petroleum Norsk AS, was formally incorporated on 22 October 1964, and was registered with the Oslo Trade Registry Office on 25 November the same year.

Earlier that fall, Phillips employee Fred Terry travelled to Oslo. One of his first tasks was to establish the Norwegian company, follow developments in Norway’s budding petroleum policy, and to ensure that Phillips was in the running when the first blocks were announced.

After preparations with Italian oil company Agip and Belgian company Fina, the three companies applied for the first (and largest) licensing round on the Norwegian Continental Shelf with Phillips as the operating company. The round was announced in the Official Norwegian Gazette in April 1965. In August of the same year, the Norwegian Minister of Industry announced that the company had been awarded the operatorship for production license (PL) 018, amongst others.
 
Four years after the award, the Ekofisk discovery was made – and entered trial production in June 1971- seven years after the first Phillips company was established in Norway.