The Frigg UK System is a natural gas

Natural gas

Natural gas is a naturally occurring gas mixture consisting primarily of methane, typically with 0–20% higher hydrocarbons . It is found associated with other hydrocarbon fuel, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is an important fuel source and a major feedstock for fertilizers.Most natural...

 transportation system from the North Sea

North Sea

In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...

 gas fields to St. Fergus

St. Fergus

St Fergus is a village in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, formerly in the county of Banffshire. St Fergus lies a mile from the North Sea coast and three miles northwest of Peterhead...

 near Peterhead

Peterhead

Peterhead is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is Aberdeenshire's biggest settlement , with a population of 17,947 at the 2001 Census and estimated to have fallen to 17,330 by 2006....

 in Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

. It transports natural gas from the Alwyn North, Dunbar, Ellon, Grant, Nuggets, Frigg

Frigg gas field

Frigg gas field is a natural gas field in the North Sea, on the boundary between the United Kingdom and Norway. The field is named after the goddess Frigg. King Olav V of Norway officially opened the production on the 8 May 1978. Production was closed at 26 October 2004. The field is situated ...

, Bruce, Ross, Captain, Buzzard, Tartan, Piper

Piper oilfield

The Piper oilfield is a substantial North Sea oilfield. Oil extracted from it is piped to Scotland, where it is refined at a purpose built refinery on the island of Flotta, in the Orkney Islands....

, Chanter, Galley, Hamish, Highlander, Ivanhoe, MacCulloch, Petronella, Saltire, and
Rob Roy, fields.

History

Construction of the main pipeline, the Frigg UK pipeline, started in 1974 and was completed in 1977. It was built to transport natural gas from the Frigg gas field to the United Kingdom. Because of technical limitations, it was decided to build two parallel pipelines, one (the Frigg UK pipeline) by the United Kingdom and one by Norway (former Frigg Norwegian Pipeline, now Vesterled

Vesterled

Vesterled is a natural gas pipeline system, which runs from the Heimdal field in the North Sea to St Fergus Gas Plant near Peterhead in Scotland. The name Vesterled is the term used by the Vikings for their westward voyages, i.e...

). Even in British waters, until 1998 both pipelines were in Norwegian jurisdiction.

Technical description

The system comprises the Frigg UK pipeline, Alwyn pipeline, other connection lines, and processing facilities at the St Fergus Gas Terminal

St. Fergus Gas Plant

The St Fergus Gas Plant in St Fergus, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, is a set of four gas processing .-History:The plant was initially developed by British Gas and Shell. The three main plants have three main pipelines each coming ashore. The Centrica plant receives gas from the other main three plants...

. The 110 kilometres (68.4 mi) long Alwyn pipeline with diameter of 24 inches (609.6 mm) connects Alwyn North Field with the Frigg Field's TP1 bypass spool. From the TP1 the 362 kilometres (224.9 mi) long original Frigg UK Pipeline with diameter of 32 inches (812.8 mm) runs to the St Fergus Gas Terminal, alongside of the Vesterled pipeline. 18 inches (457.2 mm) pipeline connects Tartan and Piper fields with the Frigg UK Pipeline at the MCP-01 platform, 173 kilometres (107.5 mi) northeast of Aberdeen

Aberdeen

Aberdeen is Scotland's third most populous city, one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas and the United Kingdom's 25th most populous city, with an official population estimate of ....

. The Frigg UK System is operated by Total E&P UK Plc

Total S.A.

Total S.A. is a French multinational oil company and one of the six "Supermajor" oil companies in the world.Its businesses cover the entire oil and gas chain, from crude oil and natural gas exploration and production to power generation, transportation, refining, petroleum product marketing, and...

.