Construction started Thursday for part of a platform that will deploy at the giant Johan Sverdrup oil field, Norwegian energy company Statoil said.

Project director Kjetel Digre was on hand at a shipyard in South Korea for the start of construction for part of the platform designated for Johan Sverdrup infrastructure.

"As we are starting the riser platform construction we are taking another important step in delivering the Johan Sverdrup project on schedule," he said in a statement.

Statoil and its partners at Johan Sverdrup, Maersk Oil and Lundin Petroleum, in early 2014 outlined the development plan for the field using multiple phases. At least half of the secondary construction contracts for Johan Sverdrup are slated for Norwegian companies.

The first phase of development of the Johan Svedrup field calls for four platforms. The first phase of operations at the offshore field should yield up to 380,000 barrels of oil per day, roughly half of the expected peak production rate. Once in full swing, the field, the fifth largest discovered off the Norwegian coast, should account for up to 25 percent of all Norwegian petroleum production.

The part of the platform currently under production in South Korea will be, at about 23,000 tons, the largest of the four parts of the infrastructure for Johan Sverdrup. Construction on a processing platform is set to begin next month.