Creative solutions will have to be found to transport Norwegian gas to markets as new finds are located in more remote locations, the head of North Sea infrastructure operator Gassco said on Monday.
Chief Executive Brian Bjordal also said in an interview that Gassco was looking to extend the lifespan of its existing infrastructure in the North Sea - but only as long as it was commercially justifiable to do so. "When things become more and more difficult to access, we have to find more creative solutions," Bjordal told Reuters. "A very long pipeline may not necessarily be economic."
He suggested that gas from Norway's Arctic, where petroleum companies are looking to explore further, could be transported via ship transporting liquefied natural gas (LNG) or compressed natural gas (CNG).
"You could imagine a CNG ship transporting gas from a field (in the Barents Sea) down to the nearest pipeline access and release it there," he said. Gassco said it is assessing ship-based gas transport solutions for Norway's oil and energy ministry.
Bjordal also suggested that, as Norway's gas finds become smaller, using existing infrastructure may be privileged over building new pipelines.