Vesterled
Encyclopedia
Vesterled is a natural gas pipeline system, which runs from the Heimdal field
(Heimdal Riser platform) 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. vesterled = "the way westward".
creating the Frigg Transportation System. It became operational in August 1978. As the Frigg field was running to cease production, the spur line from the Heimdal field was put in operation on 1 October 2001.
and operated by Gassco
. The technical service provider is Total E&P UK Plc
.
Heimdal gas field
Heimdal is an offshore natural gas field in the North Sea located northwest of the Stavanger, Norway. Heimdal serves as a connection hub for processing and distribution of natural gas from satellite fields....
(Heimdal Riser platform) in 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...
to St Fergus Gas Plant 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...
. The name Vesterled is the term used by the Vikings for their westward voyages, i.e. vesterled = "the way westward".
History
Originally the Vesterled pipeline was known as the Frigg Norwegian Pipeline, which was built in 1974–1978 to transport gas from the Frigg field to the United Kingdom. It was laid in parallel to the Frigg UK PipelineFrigg UK System
The Frigg UK System is a natural gas transportation system from the North Sea gas fields to St. Fergus near Peterhead in Scotland. It transports natural gas from the Alwyn North, Dunbar, Ellon, Grant, Nuggets, Frigg, Bruce, Ross, Captain, Buzzard, Tartan, Piper, Chanter, Galley, Hamish, Highlander,...
creating the Frigg Transportation System. It became operational in August 1978. As the Frigg field was running to cease production, the spur line from the Heimdal field was put in operation on 1 October 2001.
Technical description
The pipeline is 360 kilometres (223.7 mi) long and has a diameter of 32 inches (812.8 mm). The Vesterled pipeline consists of two sections: a 38 kilometres (23.6 mi) long pipeline links the Heimdal Riser with the former Frigg Norwegian Pipeline. The capacity of Vesterled is about 12 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year. The pipeline system is owned by GassledGassled
Gassled is a partnership to own the offshore natural gas transportation infrastructure on behalf of oil and gas companies operating at Norwegian continental shelf of North Sea. Gassled was created on 20 December 2002 and it became operational on 1 January 2003...
and operated by Gassco
Gassco
Gassco is a Norwegian state owned company that operates of natural gas pipes transporting annually of 88.5 billion cubic meter of natural gas from the Norwegian continental shelf to Continental Europe and the United Kingdom....
. The technical service provider is 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...
.