Langeled pipeline

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Map of pipeline route

Ormen Lange Nyhamna

Easington terminal

The Langeled pipeline (also known as Langeled, or the Langeled project) is the world's longest underwater pipeline. The pipeline, which was built for Norsk Hydro will bring Norwegian natural gas to the UK.

Stretching 1,200 km from the Nyhamna terminal in Norway via the Sleipner Riser platform in the North Sea to Easington, England, the pipeline will eventually carry 70 million cubic metres per day. That equates to some 20% of Britain's gas supply.

The pipeline will be opened in two stages. The southern section (Sleipner Riser to Easington) began piping gas on 1 October 2006, the northern section (Nyhamna to Sleipner Riser) opened in October 2007.[1] The official opening of the project was held in London on Monday, October 16 2006 by Prime Minister Tony Blair and his Norwegian counterpart, Jens Stoltenberg.[2][3]

1 Technical description
2 Ownership and operation
3 See also
4 External links

[edit] Technical description

The pipeline is designated to bring natural gas from the Ormen Lange gas process terminal to the UK, but through the connector at Slepiner Riser it provides also an opportunity to send gas through Gassco’s existing network to continental Europe. The annual capacity of Langeled is about 20 bcm. This will supplement the Vesterled system with annual capacity about 12 bcm, which runs from Heimdal Riser platform in the North Sea to St. Fergus in Scotland.

[edit] Nyhamna-Sleipner Riser section

The Nyhamna-Sleipner Riser leg has a diameter of 1067 mm (42 inches) and can operate with a pressure of 250 bar.

[edit] Hub at Sleipner Riser

At Sleipner Riser the Langeled has a connection to the existing Gassled transport system.

[edit] Sleipner Riser-Easington section

The Sleipner Riser-Easington leg has a diameter of 1118 mm (44 inches), which makes it the largest submarine pipeline in the North Sea. Its pressure is 155 bar.

[edit] Ownership and operation

The Langeled joint venture comprises the Ormen Lange licensees as well as ConocoPhillips and Gassco. It has been formed to build, operate and own the system from Nyhamna to Easington. The operator for Langeled is Gassco and StatoilHydro runs the gas export project. British Centrica is a technical service provider at Easington. The principal funding of the project was provided by the syndicated loan structured by ABN AMRO and mainly subscribed by several banks, among them Barclays Bank, Royal Bank of Scotland and Defoe Fournier & Cie.