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Gas pipeline from Barents Sea in 2020

Map: kystverket.no

In order to keep its position as a stable supplier of gas to Europe, Norway has to develop its infrastructure. A gas pipeline from the Barents Sea can be the solution, Norwegian gas infrastructure agency Gassco says in a recent study.

Location

In a report presented to the Ministry of Oil and Energy, Gassco concludes that the promising discoveries made in the Barents Sea and the planned level of activity in the area make a pipeline connected to the existing pipeline system in the North Sea feasible and profitable.

Arkhangelsk Port is main base for transportation of pipes to the Baydaratskaya Guba underwater pipeline.
A 1000 kilometer long pipeline from the Barents Sea could be in place in 2020, Gassco believes. Photo: Trude Pettersen

Minister of Oil and Energy Ola Borten Moe regards the study as an important contribution to the debate, but that a final conclusion depends on how much gas will be found and if Europe sends a clear signal that it wants gas from Norway:

-If Europe does not give a clear signal that it wants significant supplies of Norwegian gas over the next generation, then it is not inevitable that we will invest large sums in a new gas pipeline, Moe said to Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten.

He said Norway would then see LNG as a more flexible export option that would give it higher earnings in global markets such as Japan.

Plans for a future gas pipeline from the Barents Sea were first presented by Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre in August 2011, as BarentsObserver reported.

Meanwhile, several Norwegian companies are discussing possible exports of gas from the Barents via the Nord Stream pipeline from Russia to Europe in the Baltic Sea.