The Gassled joint venture has approved operator Gassco’s recommendation to construct a new receiving terminal for Norwegian gas in the German port of Emden.

This facility will replace the existing Norsea Gas Terminal (NGT), which became operational in 1977 in connection with the development of Norway’s Ekofisk field in the North Sea.

The Emden terminal currently receives a substantial proportion of the Norwegian gas delivered to Germany, transported through the Norpipe line.

With physical work set to start in the autumn of 2013, the new facility is to be constructed on vacant land within the existing Emden terminal area.

Plans call for it to be completed in 2016 at an estimated overall investment cost in the order of NOK 5 billion. A contract to construct the terminal will be awarded next spring.

While the project will not increase Norway’s gas export capacity, the new terminal’s functionality will be well tailored to future needs for receiving gas from fields in the Ekofisk area and other parts of the Norwegian continental shelf.

“This new Emden receiving facility will help to safeguard deliveries of Norwegian gas to Germany in a long-term perspective,” says Trond Nordal, head of Gassco’s receiving terminals in Europe.

Note:
Phillips Petroleum (later ConocoPhillips) built and operated the Norsea Gas Terminal until 2006, when Statoil and ConocoPhillips took over technical operating responsibility through the GasPort company. Gassco became operator for the terminal in 2002, and took over direct technical operating responsibility in 2007.