ENGLISH - Gassco

ENGLISH
ASSCO

Gas pipeline at Kårstø.

Contents
Accepting responsibility, delivering as agreed page 4
Motorways for Norwegian gas page 6
Gas administrator page 11
Kårstø’s key role page 13
Kollsnes page 15
Value chain for gas page 16
Receiving terminals in Europe page 18
Riser platforms – key hubs page 25
Skanled – eastward bound page 26
Facts about gas page 28
The Gassled joint venture page 30
Facts about Gassco page 30
Produced: June 2007 Design: Steinar Iversen Reklamebyrå Photos: Øyvind Sætre, Henderyckx, Hans-Peter Heikens, Eirik Dankel
Text: Ragnar Åsland English translation: Rolf E Gooderham Printer: HBO

Accepting responsibility,
delivering as agreed
We at Gassco take responsibility for transporting gas safely and efficiently from the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS). Our aim is
to be a leading gas transporter in Europe. We will ensure reliable deliveries 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year, with the aid of our
control room in Karmøy local authority north of Stavanger.
Our offices at Bygnes.
European demand for Norwegian gas is steadily rising. Norway ranks as the world’s third largest
exporter of pipeline gas, and currently supplies more than 15 per cent of all natural gas consumed in
OECD Europe. This proportion is likely to increase over the next few years.
Norway’s ability to deliver gas is significant for the daily lives of millions of people. Its reputation as a
reliable supplier would be threatened if these deliveries failed to arrive.
Even minor shutdowns on the NCS affect a Europe increasingly dependent on gas imports. So high
regularity is essential for maintaining the position of Norwegian gas in a growth market. Ensuring that
the companies which export this commodity and their European customers view the transport system
as reliable is commercially critical for us at Gassco. That puts reliability at the core of our business.
Transport network. Capacity in the integrated transport system, which comprises pipelines, processing
facilities, platforms and receiving terminals in continental Europe and the UK, has increased in recent
years. It will be up to 350 million standard cubic metres (scm) of gas per day by 31 December 2007.
The latest delivery record was set on 11 December 2006, when more than 300 million scm of gas was
produced and delivered from the NCS in the course of a single day.

Health, safety and the environment. Our goal at
Gassco is zero harm to people, the environment
or material assets. This zero objective reflects a
conviction that all harm can be prevented by
systematic and purposeful work. We have
established performance indicators which show
the development in our HSE results over time. The
trend in recent years has been positive for the
activities we operate, with fewer critical incidents
or personal injuries.
Operatives in Dornum.
Able people at every stage. Despite constant
technological advances, our personnel and the
expertise they possess are the primary reason
we can claim to be reliable. We are accordingly
committed to having able people at every
stage. It is gratifying that we can recruit new
employees who help to take our company forward.
We have a stable and well-qualified staff,
and regard ourselves as a change-oriented organ-
isation in which everyone contributes to maintaining
and developing the transport system. In
this way, we can safeguard Norway’s leading role
as a gas supplier.

ZONES ANd TArIffS
The integrated system for Norwegian gas transport is divided
into areas, each with fixed unit prices for transport and/or
processing.
Gassled area A: covers the pipeline carrying rich gas from the
Tampen area of the North Sea to the Kårstø processing plant.
Gassled area B: covers the pipeline carrying rich gas from the
Halten Bank in the Norwegian Sea to Kårstø.
Gassled area C: covers the Kårstø plant.
Gassled area d: covers a number of pipelines, platforms and
receiving terminals for transporting dry gas from Kollsnes and
Kårstø, or directly from fields, to receiving terminals in the UK,
France, Belgium and Germany.
Gassled area E: covers the Kollsnes processing plant.
GREAT BRITAIN
FRANCE
BELGIUM
THE NETHERLANDS
NORWAY
DENMARK
GERMANY
SWEDEN

Motorways for Norwegian gas
We operate a unique system for gas transport through an extensive network of pipelines which total 7 800 kilo-
metres in length, as well as major industrial facilities, platforms and receiving terminals in continental Europe and
the UK.
PIPELINE frOM TO LENGTH dIAMETEr CAPACITY (scm/d)
Haltenpipe Heidrun Tjeldbergodden 250 km 16-inch 7.0 mill
Norne Gas Transport (NGTS) Norne Heidrun 126 km 16-inch 10.0 mill
Åsgard Transport Åsgard Kårstø 707 km 42-inch 70.4 mill
Statpipe rich gas Statfjord Kårstø 308 km 30-inch 26.7 mill
Statpipe Kårstø Draupner S 228 km 28-inch 21.1 mill
Statpipe Draupner S Ekofisk 203 km 36-inch 44.4 mill
Statpipe Heimdal Draupner S 155 km 36-inch 30.7 mill
Zeepipe Sleipner Zeebrugge 814 km 40-inch 41.9 mill
Zeepipe Sleipner Draupner S 30 km 30-inch 50.0 mill
Zeepipe IIA Kollsnes Sleipner 303 km 40-inch 72.0 mill
Zeepipe IIB Kollsnes Draupner E 304 km 40-inch 71.0 mill
Europipe Draupner E Dornum/Emden 660 km 40-inch 45.4 mill
Europipe II Kårstø Dornum 650 km 42-inch 64.8 mill
Franpipe Draupner E Dunkerque 840 km 42-inch 53.7 mill
Norpipe Ekofisk Emden 440 km 36-inch 44.4 mill
Vesterled Heimdal St Fergus 350 km 32-inch 36.0 mill
Oseberg Gas Transport (OGT) Oseberg Heimdal 109 km 36-inch 41.9 mill
Langeled (from 1 Oct 2006) Nyhamna Easington 1 200 km 42/44-inch 69.4 mill
Tampen Link (from 1 Oct 2007) Statfjord Flags 23 km 32-inch 25.0 mill
LANd-BASEd
fACILITIES
rISEr
PLATfOrMS
Kårstø gas processing complex, Norway Draupner S/E At Åsgard: Mikkel
Kollsnes gas processing complex,
Norway Sleipner Riser At Norne: Urd
Installations also delivering natural gas to the
transport network
Emden receiving terminal, Germany Heimdal Riser At Statfjord: Statfjord East, Statfjord North, Snorre and Vigdis
Dornum receiving terminal, Germany At Gullfaks: Tordis and Topas
Dunkerque receiving terminal, France At Heimdal: Vale and Skirne
St Fergus receiving terminal, UK At Jotun: Balder and Ringhorne
Zeebrugge receiving terminal, Belgium At Sleipner: Sleipner East and West

Motorways for Norwegian gas cont
THE WOrK dONE ArOUNd THE CLOCK IN OUr CONTrOL rOOM AT BYGNES NOrTH Of STAvANGEr IS HIGHLY SIGNIfI-
CANT fOr OUr rOLE AS OPErATOr. ONE KEY jOB IS TO ENSUrE THAT CUSTOMErS rECEIvE THE COrrECT vOLUMES. OTHEr
IMPOrTANT TASKS INCLUdE ENSUrING THAT THE PrOdUCTS WE SENd ON HAvE THE PrOPEr CALOrIfIC vALUE ANd THE rIGHT
CONTENT Of WATEr, CArBON dIOxIdE ANd HYdrOGEN SULPHIdE.
In addition, our control room operatives coordinate the whole
daily flow of information on deliveries to the gas owners and the
fields responsible for delivery.
The control room is responsible for optimum operation of the
transport system and for achieving 100 per cent regularity. We call
this “system operation”.

Operatives in the control room at Bygnes.

The receiving terminal in Dornum.
ONE Of OUr rOLES CAN BE COMPArEd IN A WAY WITH CONTrOLLING TrAffIC IN INTErNATIONAL AIr SPACE. TrAffIC BETWEEN THE
PIPELINES IS ALSO CONSIdErABLE, ANd ONE Of OUr KEY jOBS IS TO AdMINISTEr THE CAPACITY AvAILABLE IN THE TrANSPOrT SYSTEM
AT ANY GIvEN TIME.
A CErTAIN NUMBEr Of BOOKING rOUNdS ArE HELd EvErY YEAr TO ALLOCATE CAPACITY. OUr jOB IS TO ACCOMPLISH THIS IN AN
OBjECTIvE, NON-dISCrIMINATOrY ANd TrANSPArENT WAY WHICH BENEfITS ALL GAS SHIPPErS, ANd WHICH CONTrIBUTES TO THE
MOST EffICIENT POSSIBLE UTILISATION Of rESOUrCES ON THE NCS.
10

Gas administration
System operation and capacity management. The 23 staff in our control room average 10 years of experience. Controlling the gas flow
continues without a break around the clock. Three people work the night shift, while the day and afternoon shifts each have four operatives.
Their main duties are to manage the gas flow through constant monitoring, regulate quality and ensure that the gas blend is correct. Since
the various fields deliver different gas grades, these must be processed or mixed to achieve the desired quality before delivery to the buyer.
Such blending allows us to deliver gas with the agreed composition virtually all the time.
Our control room’s coordinatory role is extensive
and multifaceted. In certain circumstances,
we can instruct a field operator to deliver gas
for a limited period. This happens, for instance,
if a field shuts down for maintenance or other
reasons. We can then require another field to
deliver more and others to supply less. The
control room is also involved in planning shortterm
shutdowns which supplement major
scheduled turnarounds. Transport capacity de-
pends to some extent on the ambient water
temperature along the pipelines, which means
that more can be sold in the cold season. Using
good temperature information, updated daily,
and advanced computer models, we calculate the
daily extra capacity available for sale in the winter.
Planning ship calls at Kårstø also requires careful
coordination with daily gas flows.
Construction and development. A key challenge
for us as operator is to run all our facilities safely
and cost-efficiently. We are also required to make
improvements, remove operational bottlenecks
and increase accessibility in the gas transport
system. Ensuring that all Norwegian gas reaches
the market in an acceptable, safe and efficient
manner is an important and responsible job. The
value chain comprises five stages: production,
transport to land, processing, onward transport,
and sales/marketing.
Production. Gas is produced from more than 30
fixed and floating installations on the NCS.
Transport to land. Gas is piped from the NCS to
processing facilities on land. At this stage, it is
usually a blend of dry gas (methane) and natural
gas liquids (NGL – ethane, propane and butanes)
known as rich gas.
Processing. When rich gas reaches the processing
plant, its pressure is reduced before the lightest
(dry) gas and the NGL are separated in an extraction
plant. The various NGL fractions are also separated
into ethane, propane and butanes. This is
accomplished by heating the mix at the base of a
tall column, so that the lightest fraction vaporises
and collects at the top. The residue is then sent to
the next column and reheated. This fractionation
process continues until all the NGLs have been
separated out.
11
The Bygnes control room.

AT KårSTø, NGL IS SEPArATEd frOM rICH GAS ANd THEN SPLIT (frACTIONATEd) INTO PrOPANE, NOrMAL BUTANE, ISOBUTANE,
NAPHTHA ANd ETHANE. THE PrOPANE IS STOrEd IN TWO LArGE ArTIfICIAL rOCK CAvErNS, WHICH HAvE A COMBINEd CAPACITY
Of 140 000 TONNES. NOrMAL BUTANE, ISOBUTANE, NAPHTHA ANd ETHANE ArE HELd IN TANKS.
KårSTø rANKS AS THE WOrLd’S THIrd LArGEST ExPOrT POrT fOr PrOPANE, NOrMAL BUTANE ANd ISOBUTANE, WHICH ArE
KNOWN COLLECTIvELY AS LIqUEfIEd PETrOLEUM GASES (LPG). THESE PrOdUCTS ArE SOLd TO CUSTOMErS WOrLdWIdE.
1
The Kårstø processing plant.

Kårstø’s key role
Kårstø north of Stavanger has been transformed over the past 25 years from poor pasture to one of the world’s largest processing
plants for natural gas. Its capacity has been increased fivefold since operation began in 1985 through expansions, modifications and
the installation of new equipment. And almost NOK 30 billion has been invested at the site since the Storting (parliament) approved
the Statpipe development in 1981.
With more than 30 fields tied back to Kårstø via
pipelines, millions of cubic metres of gas and
unstabilised condensate flow into the plant every
day.
Its original purpose was to receive and treat gas
from fields in the northern North Sea, and this
remains one of its main jobs. First gas arrived on
25 July 1985, with dry gas starting its journey to
Emden in Germany on 15 October of the same year.
The Statpipe system carries gas from the northern
North Sea to Kårstø.
value creation. Kårstø is an important link in the
value chain from reservoir to European customers.
Fields in the Norwegian Sea were also connected
to the European gas market with the development
of Åsgard, construction of the Åsgard Transport
and Europipe II pipelines, and expansion of the
Kårstø plant.
Completed on 1 October 2005, the Kårstø expansion
project 2005 (KEP2005) made it possible to
receive rich gas from the Kristin field via Åsgard
Transport. Capacity at the plant was increased by
20 per cent to 88 million scm per day. A plant to
remove carbon dioxide from the sales gas was
also built as part of KEP2005.
A total of 638 cargoes of propane, butane, ethane,
naphtha and stabilised condensate were shipped
from Kårstø in 2006.
Condensate is piped to Kårstø from the Sleipner
area of the North Sea. At the plant, it is stabilised
and fractionated in a dedicated facility which
became operational on 1 October 1993. Roughly
four million tonnes of stabilised condensate are
shipped from the plant every year.
An expansion in 2005 increased Kårstø’s ethane
production capacity by more than 50 per cent to
950 000 tonnes per annum.
1

1
The Kollsnes processing plant.

Kollsnes
Troll contains the largest gas reserves discovered
in the North Sea. Its development has been based
on piping the gas to Kollsnes for processing, which
began in 1996. Kvitebjørn and Visund have subsequently
been tied to the plant.
The Kollsnes process separates gas, NGL and
condensate. After dewatering, the gas is
compressed for onward transmission to Europe
via Zeepipe, Europipe and other pipeline systems.
The processing plant at Kollsnes north-west of Bergen plays a key role in Norway’s gas industry,
and handles output from the Troll, Kvitebjørn and visund fields in the North Sea.
A pipeline transports NGL from Kollsnes to the
Mongstad oil refinery further north for
fractionation into propane, butane and naphtha.
Since the Kollsnes plant came on stream, its
capacity has been expanded several times.
Additions include an NGL extraction unit and a
new export compressor. The facility can currently
process up to 143 million scm of gas and 69 000
barrels of condensate per day.
1

Value chain for gas
Receiving terminals
are located at Emden and
Dornum in Germany,
Zeebrugge in Belgium,
Dunkerque in France, St Fergus
in Scotland and Easington in
England.
1
OIL
Oil and gas are formed
from the remains of plants, algae,
plankton and marine animals
deposited on the seabed many
millions of years ago, and converted
to hydrocarbons under heat and
pressure.
Gas transport
Gas is transported by ship in
liquefied form, or by pipelines
along the seabed.
Oil transport
Oil can be brought ashore by
shuttle tankers which load
from a buoy on the field, or by
pipeline.
Transmission/distribution
Norwegian gas is transported from the
receiving terminals to end users in
households, industry and power stations
through a well-developed distribution
network.
Oil refining
Crude oil comprises a blend of
liquids or fractions with
different boiling points. In the
refinery, these fractions are
separated in a distillation
column and then processed
into such products as heating
oil, diesel oil or petrol.
A reservoir
is a porous, permeable rock which contains
petroleum, rather like water in a wet sponge.
Three types of rock are needed to create a
commercial reservoir – a source of
hydrocarbons, the actual reservoir and an
impermeable cap which creates a trap to
retain the oil and gas.
End users
Natural gas is used in continental
Europe and the UK by households,
office buildings, market gardens and
other commercial activities, power
stations and manufacturing.

RICH GAS
NGL
Gas processing
Rich gas is separated into various fractions by
being passed through a series of tall columns.
When the gas is heated at the bottom of a
column, the lightest fraction rises to the top
and is drawn off. This process continues until
fractionation is complete. See the illustration
on page 29 for further details.
DRY GAS
Dry gas
is often called sales gas.
It consists primarily of
methane, but also contains
some ethane.
STORBRITANNIA
Surveys and exploration wells
Exploring for hydrocarbons calls for modern
computers, geological maps and geophysical
investigations. Seismic surveys use sound
waves generated by an explosion, which
travel through the rock and bounce back to
microphones. These signals are then
interpreted to map the “terrain”. Exploration
wells are drilled from rigs or ships.
NGL and condensate
Once separated and fractionated, propane,
butanes, naphtha and condensate are
transported by ship.
FRANKRIKE BELGIA
Transport network
Norwegian gas is transported through a network of pipelines totalling
7 800 kilometres in length from fields on the NCS to receiving terminals
in continental Europe and the UK.
DANMARK
NEDERLAND TYSKLAND
NORGE SVERIGE
Production and separation
Oil and gas can be produced from platforms or
advanced seabed installations. This wellstream,
which may be under high pressure and temperature,
is separated into its various components before
transport and further processing.
End users
Gas is used as a fuel and as a
feedstock for the petrochemical
industry. This yields a number of
commodities, particularly plastics.
Toothbrushes, shopping bags, bottles,
mobile phones and computers are
among the products where natural
gas is one of the most important raw
materials.
1

Receiving terminals in Europe
WHEN NOrWEGIAN GAS IS PIPEd TO CUSTOMErS IN CONTINENTAL EUrOPE ANd THE UK, IT
MUST fIrST PASS THrOUGH A rECEIvING TErMINAL. WE OPErATE SUCH fACILITIES IN GErMANY,
BELGIUM, frANCE ANd BrITAIN.
1

1
The dornum receiving terminal.

eceiving terminals in Europe cont
Last stop before the
market
Gas from the NCS is piped to receiving terminals in four European countries. Upon arrival, it
undergoes a final quality check, metering, and regulation of pressure and temperature before
being delivered to the downstream transport operators.
dunkerque terminal
The receiving terminal for the Franpipe line stands
in Dunkerque’s Port Ouest in northern France.
Established jointly by Gassled and Gaz de France,
this facility was completed in the summer of 1998
and is owned by Franpipe.
Deliveries of sales gas from the NCS via Franpipe
to Dunkerque commenced on 1 July 1998.
The terminal is remotely operated from the
Zeebrugge facility.
0

Zeebrugge terminal
The receiving terminal at Zeebrugge in Belgium is
owned by the Zeepipe group, part of the Gassled
joint venture, and Belgian company Fluxys. It is
operated as an integral part of the Zeepipe
system.
Zeebrugge was chosen as the Zeepipe landfall
because of its proximity to gas buyers in Belgium,
France and Spain.
The facility stands in the city’s port area and is
linked to the landfall point by a six-kilometre overland
line.
Upon arrival at the terminal, the gas has its
pressure regulated. Possible residual liquids and
solid particles are removed, and the gas is metered
and checked for quality before being transported
on through the pipeline network to customers
in Europe.
The Zeebrugge terminal became operational in
1993.
1

eceiving terminals in Europe cont
Easington terminal
Langeled runs for 1 166 kilometres, making it the
world’s longest underwater pipeline. We are also
operator for this system, which starts at Nyhamna
in mid-Norway and terminates at Easington on
the UK east coast.
Gas from Ormen Lange in the Norwegian Sea
flows through the northern leg of Langeled to the
Sleipner platforms in the North Sea, where it is
blended to ensure the right quality and sent on.
Emden hub
The Emden metering station for Europipe and the
Norsea gas terminal for Norpipe stand side by side
outside this north German port. Emden has been
a hub for Norwegian gas deliveries since Norpipe
became operational in 1997.
These facilities regulate gas pressure and
temperature before it passes through a hydrogen
sulphide treatment plant. The gas is also metered
and checked for quality.
Upon arrival in Easington, the gas is regulated
to the correct pressure and temperature before
being passed into the British distribution system.
The southern leg of Langeled became operational
on 1 October 2006, with the northern leg following
on 1 October 2007 when the Ormen Lange
processing plan came on stream.

St fergus terminal
This facility stands 61 kilometres north of
Aberdeen in Scotland, and became operational
in 1977. The terminal receives dry gas in the
Vesterled system in addition to rich gas
arriving through Britain’s own Flags transport
system. Gassled owns Vesterled, while we are its
operator.
dornum terminal
Gas comes ashore from the Europipe and Europipe
II pipelines at the Dornum receiving terminal
in northern Germany.
This facility filters, pressure regulates, heats and
meters the gas before it enters the Netra
transport system or a 48-kilometre land line to
Emden for further metering and distribution.

Draupner.

Riser platforms – key hubs
The Draupner S and E installations represent
a key hub in the gas transport network on the
NCS. Their main function is to monitor pressure,
volume and quality.
With seven risers (vertical pipelines) ranging
from 28 to 42 inches in diameter and associated
manifolds, these platforms play a key role in gas
transport to continental Europe.
The B-11 platform stands in the German sector
of the North Sea, south-east of Norway’s Ekofisk
We also operate riser and compressor platforms related to the pipelines.
centre, and serves as a compressor facility on the
Norpipe gas line to Emden.
Heimdal Riser is tied to the Heimdal platform and
operated as an integral part of the latter. This
installation is a hub which distributes gas from
the Oseberg Gas Transport system to the Statpipe,
Vesterled and Grane lines, together with gas from
Huldra, Heimdal, Vale and Skirne.

Skanled – eastward bound
We were commissioned by the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy in April 2005 to investigate interest in a gas transport system
for Norway. This has proved to be high, and we presented the basic technical calculations for a solution in October 2006.

The transport system currently under consideration has been named Skanled. It will involve a pipeline
running from the Kårstø processing plant to Rafnes in the Grenland region south of Oslo, and on to
western Sweden and Denmark.
Plans call for a mix of ethane and normal sales gas to be piped from Kårstø to Rafnes. A separation plant
will then remove the ethane and other heavier hydrocarbons for use in the local petrochemical industry,
replacing today’s transport of such feedstock by ship from Kårstø.
Part of the sales gas will also be used in the Grenland area, while a compressor station ensures onward
export of the remaining gas across the Skagerrak.
Both national and international companies have expressed interest in the project, and commercial
support is now great enough to meet the full ownership requirement. A decision on implementing
Skanled is due to be taken in 2009, with possible completion in late 2012.

Facts about gas
Many terms and expressions are used for oil and gas. Petroleum is a collective designation for hydrocarbons,
whether solid, liquid or gaseous.
Gscm
Giga standard cubic metres – one billion cubic
metres of gas at 0.01325 bar and 15°C.
CNG
Compressed natural gas.
LNG
Liquefied natural gas, primarily methane, which
has been converted to liquid by cooling to -163°C
at atmospheric pressure. One tonne of LNG
corresponds to roughly 1 400 scm of gas.
LPG
Liquefied petroleum gases. Consist primarily of
propane and butanes. They are obtained at Kårstø
through fractionation and cooling.
Natural gas
Petroleum components (fractions) which primarily
comprise light hydrocarbons. These can be divided
into dry gas and NGL (see below). Also known as
sales gas, dry gas consists largely of methane but
can often contain a certain proportion of ethane
and small quantities of heavier hydrocarbons.
Condensate
Embraces the heavier fractions in natural gas,
such as pentane, hexane and heptane.
Condensate is liquid under atmospheric pressure
and temperature.
Naphtha (natural gasoline)
A volatile condensate which contains less of the
heaviest fractions.
NGL
Natural gas liquids. Comprise the heavier gases
ethane, propane and butane as well as small
amounts of pentane, hexane and heptane.
ncm
Normal cubic metre at a reference condition of
0°C and 1.01325 bar.
oe
Oil equivalent. Oil and gas are often quantified as
oil equivalent. As a rule of thumb, one tonne oe =
one tonne of oil = 1 100 scm of sales gas.
smc
Standard cubic metre at a reference condition of
15°C and 1.01325 bar.

dId YOU KNOW THAT...
When you clean your teeth in the morning, the
brush you use is likely to be processed natural
gas. And if you eat a gourmet meal in a Parisian or
London restaurant, the chances are good that the
food has been cooked on Norwegian gas.
A number of well-known products which
surround us, such as plastic bags and bottles,
mobile phones and computers, derive from
natural gas – one of the most iportant feedstocks
for plastics production.
COMPOSITION Of
vArIOUS GAS TYPES rich gas
Rich gas/
condensate
dry gas
(Sales gas) LNG NGL LPG Condensate
Gross
calorific
value (GCV)
MJ/scm
Methane 37.7
Ethane 66.0
Propane 94.0
Butanes 121.0
Naphta 150 +
Condensate > 150
= heat
Dry (sales) gas
by pipeline to Europe
GCV MJ/scm 43-46 39-40 38-40 90-100 abt 100 > 150
Methane
Ethane
Propane
NGL
is transported by ship
Extraction plant Fractionation plant
Butanes
Naptha
Condensate

The Gassled joint
venture
With effect from 1 january 2003, virtually all the Norwegian transport systems were integrated in Gassled, a large new joint venture
between the oil and gas companies involved on the NCS.
Gas transport on the NCS was originally organised in various joint ventures, which owned the different
pipelines and terminals.
Gassled has no employees and is run through various committees with specific duties. This joint
venture is the formal owner of the infrastructure for gas transport from the NCS.
Facts about Gassco
We were founded by the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy on 14 May 2001 as a limited company wholly owned by the Norwegian
state. We became the operator for gas transport from the NCS on 1 january 2002.
Before our creation, such transport was operated by several companies. We were established as part of
an extensive restructuring of the Norwegian oil and gas sector since 2001. Our head office is located
at Bygnes in Karmøy local authority north of Stavanger, and lies roughly 15 kilometres from the port of
Haugesund.
0

GASSCO AS P O Box 93, NO- 5501 Haugesund, Norway. Visiting address: Bygnesvegen 75, NO- 4250 Kopervik.
Tel: +47 52 81 25 00. www.gassco.no