"Milestone" Pipeline to Serve UK Gas Market

A new North Sea gas pipeline has been described by Norweigan operator StatoilHydro as a "milestone" in transporting gas to the UK market.

The Tampen Link is a 23.2km, 32in gas pipeline which begun production over the weekend.

The pipeline runs between the Statfjord field in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea to the St Fergus gas terminal in Scotland.

The project to export gas to the UK is part of the Statfjord Late Life project. The initial phase of the project is "a test case on how to maximise the Norwegian continental shelf potential," says StatoilHydro.

Total capacity at the Tampen Link is about 11 billion standard cubic metres per year.

The next phase of the project entails low-pressure production and will begin in about two years' time.

By staff writer