Natural gas began flowing regularly through the Polarled pipeline on 16 December, opening up a completely new province for supplying Norwegian gas to Europe.

This facility is the first offshore pipeline to cross the Arctic Circle. Running for 482 kilometres, carries output from the Aasta Hansteen field in the Norwegian Sea.

The pipeline terminates at the Nyhamna plant in western Norway, where the rich gas gets processed before dry gas is sent on to the UK and continental Europe through Norway’s integrated transport system.

In order to accommodate deliveries from Aasta Hansteen and future discoveries in the Norwegian Sea, the Nyhamna plant has been extensively converted and expanded.

- Starting up Polarled shows us that the Norwegian continental shelf is still under development, observes Frode Leversund, CEO of operator Gassco. - It will help to maintain gas deliveries from Norway to Europe for a long time to come. Norwegian gas has never been in such demand as it is today. In support of that contention, he points to the record deliveries to Europe achieved through Norway’s gas transport system this summer.

Notes:

Gassco is the operator of the Polarled pipeline to transport gas from Aasta Hansteen to the Nyhamna gas processing plant.
Gassco is the operator and Shell is the technical service provider (TSP) for the Nyhamna gas processing plant.
The Polarled pipeline is almost 1300 meters below sea level and 300 kilometers west of Bodø. The pipe is 36 inches in diameter, and the transport capacity for gas is approximately 70 million cubic meters per. day.
Gassco is the operator of the Norwegian gas transport system. Polarled makes an expansion of the existing transport system, consisting of several platforms and a total of 8829 kilometers of pipelines.

About Gassco

As operator, Gassco is responsible for safe and efficient gas transport from the Norwegian continental shelf and will be a leading gas transporter in Europe.