Norway discusses opening a 1000 km Arctic pipeline

According to pipeline operator Gassco, a 1000 km (621 miles) pipeline extension to bring natural gas to European markets from Norway's Arctic waters could be built in eight years at a cost of more than US$ 4 billion.

"A potential pipeline from the Barents Sea could be in service in 2020 and should have a relatively large capacity to accommodate potential new volumes and thus lay the foundation for continued growth in the High North as a petroleum province," Gassco said.

The company added there "seems to be a basis" for such a project and that a 42 in. pipe reaching 1000 km northward from today's terminus off central Norway would cost about NOK 25 billion (US$ 4.1 billion) and billions more in associated infrastructure.

Last summer, when state-owned Gassco began its study, Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Store said a Barents pipeline would "strengthen the Norwegian footprint in Europe and prolong our leadership as a predictable supplier of gas."

Recent petroleum discoveries in the western Barents and a treaty with Russia that opens part of the central Barents for exploration have encouraged Norway's Statoil and other energy companies that would bear much of the cost of this extension.

Petroleum and Energy Minister Ola Borten Moe told Norwegian media that the country would require long-term purchase commitments by European utilities to justify a massive pipeline configuration.

Statoil now transports gas by ship from its Snoehvit field in the Barents after turning it into LNG, allowing it to sell gas to the highest bidder worldwide.

The company is conducting its own study of whether to transport future volumes by pipeline or to expand the land-based liquefaction system.

Read the article online at: https://www.worldpipelines.com/business-news/19012012/norway_discusses_opening_a_1000_km_arctic_pipeline/