Norway's Statoil AS Thursday opened its Kårstø processing plant and Åsgard gas transport system. Kårstø will be Europe's largest natural gas treatment complex, boosting energy exports from the Scandinavian country this year to 221 Tw-hr.
According to Statoil, Norwegian gas deliveries to Europe will plateau in 2005, with exports of 70 billion cu. m/year, of which 15% will come from Åsgard field in the Norwegian Sea. Gas from Åsgard is transported via a 707-km trunkline to Kårstø.
Leidulf Ramstad, senior vice president of the Kårstø facilities, said, "New resources from the (Nowegian Sea) Haltenbanken area (would) contribute to increasing value creation from Norwegian gas and make the Kårstø treatment plant Europe's most important supplier of liquefied petroleum gas."
