Statpipe

The Statpipe is a natural gas system, which links northern North Sea gas fields with the Norway's gas export system. It transports gas from Statfjord, Gullfaks, Heimdal, Veslefrikk, Snorre, Brage, Tordis and Statfjord gas fields.

History

The Statpipe was developed by Statoil. The development plan was approved by the Norwegian Parliament (Storting) on 10 June 1981. It came on stream in October 1985. In 1998, the Statpipe was connected directly with the Norpipe. On 1 January 2003, the Statpipe was merged into Gassled partnership and Gassco became the operator of the pipeline.

Technical features

The total length of the Statpipe system is 880 kilometres. The first leg of the pipeline runs from Kårstø to Kalstø, and on to the Draupner S riser platform in the North Sea. The length of this line is 228 kilometres. The internal diameter of the pipe is 28 inches and capacity is 7.6 billion cubic metre (bcm) natural gas per annum. The second leg runs for 155 kilometres from the Heimdal platform in the North Sea to Draupner S. The diameter of this pipe is 36 inches and capacity 11 bcm per annum.

Draupner S riser platform was installed in 1984 as part of the Statpipe system. It tied the Statpipe lines from Heimdal and Kårstø together for onward transmission to Ekofisk. The internal diameter of this section is 36 inches, and it runs for 213 kilometres further south, where a 15.8-kilometre bypass around Ekofisk complex takes the Statpipe directly into Norpipe.

The pipeline is owned by Gassled, operated by Gassco, and the technical service provider is Statoil.

External links

* [http://www.statoil.com/STATOILCOM/SVG00990.NSF/UNID/8C1EA99D48886B6541256657004E1445?OpenDocument Statpipe. Statoil website]
* [http://www.gassco.no/sw3102.asp Statpipe dry gas. Gassco website]