Gassco News

Norway's Equinor plans to restart production at its Arctic liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant in Hammerfest on June 8 after it was shut down on May 31 due to a gas leak, the company said in a market message on Thursday. The facility will be unavailable until 2100 GMT on June 8, according to a message posted via the transparency page of Norwegian gas infrastructure operator Gassco. Equinor halted production after it detected a gas leak on a cooling circuit valve. The leak had been plugged late on Wednesday.

Inspections of Norway's offshore gas pipelines after the Nord Stream blasts found nothing suspicious, an executive at energy major Equinor told Reuters, in the first official word on the security sweep.However, risks remain after last year's still-unexplained explosions at the Nord Stream pipelines built to carry Russian gas to Germany via the Baltic Sea, warned Jannicke Nilsson, who manages security for Equinor.Europe's largest gas supplier after a drop in Russian flows last year, Equinor also acts as technical service provider for offshore pipelines operator Gassco.

Equinor's Hammerfest LNG plant in Arctic Norway suffered a compressor failure on Thursday and is expected to remain offline until May 19, Norwegian gas system company Gassco said in a regulatory note on Friday. The outage was caused by a technical problem with a heat exchanger that occurred during a restart of the plant following a one-day maintenance outage, an Equinor spokesperson said. The plant will remain offline until repairs have been carried out, the spokesperson added.

The German navy is helping Norway to protect critical maritime infrastructure such as oil rigs, undersea cables, and pipelines, and is ready to do the same off the Danish and Swedish coasts, its head said on Thursday. Bordering Russia in the north, Norway is Europe's biggest producer of natural gas and oil and has an extremely long coast that is hard to protect. It operates an extensive network of pipelines that connect the country with Britain and Europe. NATO has pledged to…

Norwegian police on Thursday responded to a threat made by telephone against the Nyhamna gas processing plant, one of Europe's largest energy export facilities, and later said the incident had been resolved. The threat came amid heightened concerns about the security of oil and gas infrastructure following suspected sabotage of Russia's Nord Stream gas pipelines to Europe, though plant operator Gassco and offshore producers Shell and Equinor said output had not been interrupted.

Norway has deployed a specialist vessel to inspect a subsea gas pipeline to Germany because of safety concerns after suspected sabotage last month on two Nord Stream pipelines between Russia and Germany, according to sources and data.Norway, Europe's largest gas supplier, last week put its energy sector on high alert, deploying its navy and air force to patrol offshore facilities and placing soldiers at onshore gas processing plants after the Sept. 26 Nord Stream blasts.The Havila Subsea, an oil service vessel equipped with remotely operated subsea vehicles, was deployed on Oct. 5 to survey the Europipe II pipeline that runs from the Kaarstoe gas plant in Norway to Dornum in Germany, Refinitiv vessel-tracking data shows.

Norway's Hammerfest LNG plant is now expected to restart on May 23, six days later than the previous plan and further delaying operations since a fire in 2020, Norwegian gas system manager Gassco and operator Equinor said on Monday."During the weekend, a minor fault was discovered on a compressor that needs to be rectified prior to start-up," Equinor said in a statement. Read full story"The component is now being replaced, and the stepwise process towards operations continues through the week."Europe's only large-scale LNG plant…

Equinor, Shell, TotalEnergies, Gassco and DNV announced the kick-off of a new JIP to develop low-pressure solutions for the transportation of CO2 by ships. The CETO (CO2 Efficient Transport via Ocean) JIP will carry out the technology qualification of a low-pressure ship design and identify solutions to scale CO2 transportation volume, while reducing the associated risks, to support the development of opportunities in CCS. CETO is funded by the project partners and GASSNOVA through the CLIMIT program and is expected to be completed in 2023.

Energy companies Equinor, Shell, TotalEnergies, Gassco and classification society DNV have commenced a new joint industry project (JIP) to develop low-pressure solutions for the transportation of CO2 by ships. The CETO (CO2 Efficient Transport via Ocean) JIP will carry out the technology qualification of a low-pressure ship design and identify solutions to scale CO2 transportation volume, while reducing the associated risks, to support the development of opportunities in CCS. CETO is funded by the project partners and GASSNOVA through the CLIMIT program and is expected to be completed in 2023.

A consortium of 11 European stakeholders including ArcelorMittal, Axens, IFP Energies nouvelles (IFPEN) and Total, launched a project to demonstrate an innovative process for capturing CO2 from industrial activities named the DMX project.It is part of a more comprehensive study dedicated to the development of the future European Dunkirk North Sea capture and storage cluster.The “3D” project (for DMXTM Demonstration in Dunkirk) is part of Horizon 2020, the European Union’s research and innovation program.The project has a 19.3 million euro budget over 4 years, including 14.8 million euros in European Union subsidies. Coordinated by IFPEN…

Norway's gas exports hit a new high of 36.8 billion cubic meters (bcm) this summer and the annual deliveries will be on a par with the record annual figure achieved in 2017, gas system operator Gassco said on Friday.Between May and August, which is normally a season with fewer gas exports, Norway's deliveries almost matched a normal winter level as European importers needed to refill depleted gas storages which drained during last year's cold winter."It's too early to say exactly where we'll end up this year…

Gassco has commissioned Knutsen OAS Shipping and Larvik Shipping to study transport of CO2 by ship in connection with the Norwegian government’s full-scale project for managing this greenhouse gas. In cooperation with Gassnova, Gassco has earlier studied CO2 handling chains. “The transport study will help to ensure that the government’s ambition of realising at least one full-scale CO2 facility by 2020 can be met,” says Gassco CEO Frode Leversund. The CO2 chain is being addressed by industrial players. Gassnova has assigned studies of the relevant capture locations to Norcem in Brevik, Yara at Herøya and Klemetsrud EGE in Oslo, while Gassco and Statoil are responsible for the transport and storage aspects respectively.

On 26 March, the Solitaire pipe-laying vessel started on the first stage of the Polarled installation project. The 482-kilometre long pipeline will transport gas from the Aasta Hansteen field in the Norwegian Sea to Nyhamna in western Norway. Statoil is operator during the development of the Polarled project and therefore responsible for laying the pipeline between Aasta Hansteen and Nyhamna. As operator for the gas plant, Shell is responsible for preparing the Nyhamna processing plant for gas reception. “I am pleased to note that the pipeline is now connected to the Nyhamna processing plant. The pipeline pull-in to Nyhamna is an important milestone to the project and the Polarled licensees,” says Håkon Ivarjord, MPR’s project venture manager.

Technip was awarded a new framework agreement by Statoil, Exxon Mobil and Gassco for diving, subsea intervention and repair contingency services. Under the terms of this framework agreement, a replacement of an existing frame agreement held for eight years, Technip will provide these services for the next four years. This contract, effective from December 1st 2014, also includes an option for additional periods up to seven years. - The services comprise diving and remote operations using the Group’s dedicated diving support vessels (DSVs) and/or construction vessels. - The area of operation includes continental areas from the Barents Sea to the Mediterranean Sea, the Baltic Sea and North Atlantic Ocean as well as Newfoundland, Canada.

DeepOcean AS, a subsidiary of DeepOcean Group Holding AS, DeepOcean has been awarded a Letter of Intent (LOI) by AF Group in connection with their demolition and recycling contract for the H7 riser platform cessation project for Statoil, on behalf of Gassco as operator for Gassled. The platform is located at the German continental shelf of the North Sea, and has been a part of the pipeline which exports gas to Europe. The work covers planning, engineering and execution of subsea removal work on the jacket substructure as well as preparatory inspections and seabed intervention work offshore.

Statoil to Use Vessels Running on Natural Gas for Eco-Friendly Operations. Statoil has awarded Buksér og Berging a contract for two escort tugboats to service the Kårstø processing plant on behalf of operator Gassco. The deal secures Kårstø new tugboat capacity with innovative technology for more environment-friendly operations. The two escort tugboats will assist the ships calling at Kårstø. Fitted with the latest technology available, both tugboats will run on liquefied natural gas (LNG), thereby ensuring more environmentally friendly operation. "These are likely to be the first tugboats in the world to run purely on natural gas. Equipped with first-class oil protection equipment…

Rolls-Royce, the global power systems company, has signed a contract to deliver highly efficient engines and propulsion systems for the world’s first Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) powered tugs. The two vessels have been ordered by Norwegian company Buksér og Berging AS and will enter service in late 2013 for Statoil, the international energy company, and Gassco, the operator of the gas transportation network off the Norwegian coast. Robert Løseth, Rolls-Royce, Senior VP - Merchant…

Luva may herald start of deep-water development in Norwegian Sea. Statoil, together with its Luva field partners, has selected a Spar platform to develop the field. As a gas transport solution has also been decided, a major step has now been taken towards deep-water production in the Norwegian Sea. The Luva field, which is a deep-water pioneer in the Norwegian Sea, may be the first to have a Spar platform on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS). The field is located outside of existing infrastructure and has a water depth of 1300 metres.

Norway has cut the time its biggest gas field will operate at a reduced capacity by several months after Statoil tested repairs on a faulty compressor, which kept output down during the peak winter months, gas system operator Gassco said. All outages on the Troll field between now and June 1 have been cancelled while the expected outage between June 1 and July 1 will be shorter than predicted, Gassco said in market messages. Norway is western Europe's biggest gas supplier and accounts for a fifth of the European Union's gas needs. The Troll failure kept gas output down during the winter months, pushing gas prices higher. The field's output was seen down by up to 40 million cubic metres per day through June 1…

Late last year, an innovative project to design and build the world’s first LNG fuelled escort tugs became a reality when the Borgøy was handed over for sea trials by builder Sanmar in Tulza Bay near Istanbul. For the Christening at the Sanmar Shipyard in Tuzla, representatives from the Turkish shipyard were joined by executives from Norwegian tug operator Buksér og Berging AS and from Rolls-Royce. Neil Gilliver, Rolls-Royce, President – Merchant, believes that delivery of the Borgøy and Bokn…

Norway's gas output will be cut by 24 million cubic metres (mcm) per day due to maintenance at an offshore field on April 11-13, gas system operator Gassco said on Monday.   The maintenance was needed due to preparation for a new well, the message said.   (Reporting by Nerijus Adomaitis, editing by Gwladys Fouche)