Ruhrgas AG, Essen, has started laying a 90 mile gas pipeline link between Werne and Wetter in Central Germany.
It's part of a new pipeline network to supply gas from western Germany, along with gas from Russia, to the former East Germany.
The 48 in. diameter Werne-Wetter section is to be completed in the fall to tie into a hub of Ruhrgas's pipeline grid at Werne. That will allow Norwegian, Dutch, and German gas to be supplied under a 70 bcf/year contract with Erdgasversorgungs GmbH (EVG), Leipzig.
A 40 in. section running 110 miles from Schluctern to Vitzeroda began shipping West German gas last September to the Thuringia region of East Germany (OGJ, Oct. 12, 1992, p. 27).
The Werne-Schluctern-Vitzeroda link will cost 1 billion deutschemarks ($630 million). The Werne-Schluctern branch adds a major north-south route to Ruhrgas' network, made up of 5,600 miles of line.
Most of the western gas supplied to EVG will come from the Norwegian North Sea.
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