Resources in the Barrents Sea could be vital in maintaining Norwegian gas output in the 2020s and beyond, according to the report on new gas transport and processing facilities.
Planned exploration activity over the coming years is expected to double the resource base in Norway’s Barents Sea sector, and the study shows that developing gas discoveries there could provide substantial value from a socio-economic perspective.
However, getting started on developing gas infrastructure from the region will be a demanding business, and no single licence is likely to be able to bear the necessary cost alone – either for new liquefaction capacity or for a pipeline solution.
According to Gassco, feasibility studies must be launched as early as next year if new gas infrastructure is to be operational from 2022, and the next 12 months will be important for updating analyses based on discoveries and for looking at the organisation of transport and processing facilities from the Barents Sea.