Exploration and development activities began in the southern part of the Norwegian Continental Shelf in the 1960s. Subsea developments started out as tie-backs to existing platforms, which is still the case for smaller developments. However, dedicated floating units (FPSO, semi, etc.) as hosts, have become more prevalent for new and stand-alone developments and are solutions for greater water depths. For gas fields, "subsea to shore" developments have become attractive. Such is the case with the StatoilHydro Ormen Lange which utilizes this solution in 800 to 1,000 m (2,625 to 3,280 ft) water depth and 120 km (75 miles) from shore.

Due to maturity of the region, many operators have been focusing their resources on increasing recovery rates from existing fields and implemented subsea tie-backs for marginal new fields to existing platforms and floating facilities. Subsea separation, boosting and water injection techniques are also becoming more widely adopted to increase field recovery rates. FMC is providing leading technology in this area, and manufactured the first commercial application of a full-scale subsea separation system for StaoilHydro in June 2007, brining the Tordis field's recovery factor from 49% to 55 %.