Norway’s Statoil and its joint venture partners have decided that ordinary staff rotation is to be resumed at the In Amenas gas plant in Algeria, 19 months after it was hit by a terrorist attack that saw more than 800 people taken hostage and more than 60 people killed.

Since the hostage crisis in January 2013, Statoil had kept its permanent workers away from the gas field, which it operates with UK energy company BP, and Algeria’s state operator Sonatrach.

The return to normal operations comes after the implementation of new security measures, according to Lars Christian Bacher, executive vice-president of Development & Production International (DPI), responsible for all Statoil’s production activities outside the Norwegian continental shelf.

“The decision to resume ordinary operations also at In Amenas is the result of a thorough and stepwise process of identifying necessary security measures, implementing them and validating that they are in place and operational,” he said.

In June, the corporate executive committee approved sending staff to the plant on a temporary basis to finalise the implementation of security measures.

Since the hostage crisis, the joint venture has introduced what it calls “physical security measures” at all operating plants. The extra safety measures at In Amenas include a new airport, observation helicopters, and a permanent military presence on the site.

Statoil says cooperation with the Algerian authorities has also increased, and Algerian security forces have introduced extra security measures beyond those implemented by the joint venture.

Before the terrorist attack, In Amenas produced more than 10 per cent of all Algeria’s gas.

Algeria is currently preparing for an upcoming oil and gas licensing round as it struggles to ramp up gas production.