King Olav inaugurates Frigg Fourth licensing round

Queen Elizabeth opens St Fergus

by Kathryn Steenson, University of Aberdeen

St Fergus and the pipelines were successfully tested on the 11th September 1977 and became fully operational on the 13th. On 9th May 1978, Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh arrived at St Fergus to officially inaugurate the terminal. A day previously, the King of Norway had presided over the official Frigg Field ceremony.

— Queen Elisabeth unveils two plaques commemorating the opening of the Frigg gas reception facility in St. Fergus, Scotland. Rene Granier de Lilliac, chairman of Total, will support it all. The official opening date was 09.05.1978 - the day after the official Norwegian opening of the Frigg field.

Guests invited to St Fergus included representatives from the British and Norwegian governments, diplomats and the companies who owned and operated St Fergus. The royal party arrived at the terminal shortly after 11 o’clock.

After a few brief presentations about Total and Frigg, the royal party were given a tour of the terminal and met members of staff from Total, Elf and British Gas, and 800 local schoolchildren invited for the occasion. A plaque was unveiled at half-past twelve and this was immediately followed by lunch, after which the Queen was presented with the gift of a painting.

Simultaneous celebrations were held in Grosvenor House, London, and at the University of Aberdeen, where guests watched the proceedings at St Fergus via live satellite link. The celebrations in the capital were attended by government ministers and industry figures. Those invited to the luncheon at the University included academics, local MPs and representatives from the council.

King Olav inaugurates Frigg Fourth licensing round

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Published April 3, 2018 • Updated July 2, 2020