UK gas supplies bolstered as Norway pipeline opens

The UK’s gas supplies were bolstered today following the completion of a £5.5bn (€7.9bn) project to deliver gas from Norway’s Ormen Lange field.

The Langeled pipeline, which is the world’s longest subsea pipeline, began transporting gas for commercial use from the field to Easington in East Yorkshire following three weeks of testing.

National Grid said it expects the pipe to deliver around 30 million cubic metres of gas a day during the next six months, with the capacity to increase this over the next two years.

This represents a significant boost to British gas supplies, helping to offset the UK’s own dwindling North Sea reserves.

Ormen Lange, which will be operated by Shell from December, is expected to be able to eventually meet around a fifth of all the UK’s gas needs.

The field, Norway’s second biggest after Statoil’s Troll, has taken 10 years to develop at a cost of £5.5bn (€7.9bn). The formal opening of the development takes place on October 6.

Shell shares the licence for the field with Denmark’s DONG, US-based energy giant Exxon, Norwegian state-owned Petoro along with newly merged StatoilHydro.

The southern part of the Langeled pipeline, which delivers gas from Norway’s existing southern gas fields, was opened by Tony Blair in October last year, and immediately led to a fall in wholesale gas prices.

However there are no such expectations for when the pipeline becomes fully operational this year.

Centrica, which operates the terminal at Easington where the gas will enter National Grid’s transmission system, has already said consumers are unlikely to see a fall in gas bills this winter.