Norwegian platform power outage shuts gas pipeline

Heimdal Riser Photo: www.gassco.no

OSLO: An electrical power outage on the Heimdal offshore platform in the Norwegian North Sea forced the shutdown of a natural gas pipeline to Scotland on Friday (Feb. 13), the Norwegian gas export company Gassco said.

Gassco spokesman Kjell Varlo Larsen said the pipeline’s capacity is 36 million cubic meters (222 million cubic feet), about 10 percent of the Norway’s gas exports to Britain on a typical winter day. However, other pipelines can help compensate for the shortfall.

The Heimdal platform, which is operated by the Norwegian state-controlled oil company StatoilHydro ASA, was shut Thursday when its on-board gas-powered generator failed.

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