Gassco Said to Shut Norway’s Kollsnes Gas Plant in September
July 14 (Bloomberg) — Gassco AS, Norway’s natural-gas pipeline operator, will suspend exports from its Kollsnes gas- processing plant in September as it closes for maintenance, according to six people with knowledge of the work schedule.
Kollsnes is scheduled to shut for two weeks from Sept. 12, two of the people said, declining to be identified because the information hasn’t been publicly released. The other four didn’t give specific dates. Bygnes-based Gassco spokeswoman Lisbet Kallevik declined to comment when reached by phone today.
Norway, the world’s second-biggest gas exporter after Russia, is the U.K.’s largest foreign supplier of the fuel. Kollsnes receives gas from offshore fields including Statoil ASA-operated Troll, Kvitebjoern and Visund, and sends it via pipelines under the North Sea to Britain and mainland Europe. Gassco has said it will shut its other processing plant for almost three weeks next month.
Kollsnes can process as much as 143 million cubic meters (5 billion cubic feet) of gas and 69,000 barrels of natural-gas liquids a day, according to Gassco’s website. It often handles less in summer, when demand for heating fuels is lower.
Gassco said in March it plans to shut the Kaarstoe gas- processing facility on Norway’s west coast, capable of handling 88 million cubic meters a day, from Aug. 18 through Sept. 7.
Troll produced 2.4 billion cubic meters of gas in May, Kvitebjoern pumped 520 million cubic meters and Visund 102 million cubic meters, according to the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate.
Source: BusinessWeek.com
