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Norpipe

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Norpipe oil pipeline
Location
CountryNorway, United Kingdom
General directioneast–west
FromEkofisk oil field
Passes throughNorth Sea
ToTeesside
General information
Typeoil
PartnersConocoPhillips, Total S.A., Equinor, Eni, SDFI
OperatorConocoPhillips
Commissioned1975
Technical information
Length354 km (220 mi)
Diameter34 in (864 mm)
Norpipe natural gas pipeline
Location
CountryNorway, Germany
General directionnorth–south
FromEkofisk oil field
Passes throughNorth Sea
ToEmden
General information
Typenatural gas
OwnerGassled
PartnersEquinor, Petoro, ConocoPhillips, Eni, ExxonMobil, Norsea Gas, Royal Dutch Shell, Total, DONG Energy
OperatorGassco
Technical service providerConocoPhillips
Commissioned1977
Technical information
Length440 km (270 mi)
Maximum discharge16 billion cubic meters per year
Diameter36 in (914 mm)

Norpipe is a subsea oil and natural gas pipelines system in the North Sea. It supplies oil from the Norwegian Ekofisk and associated fields in the North Sea to the United Kingdom and natural gas to Germany.

Oil pipeline

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The Norpipe oil pipeline starts at the Ekofisk 2/4-J facility.[1] In addition to Ekofisk (Cod, Ekofisk, West Ekofisk, Tor, Albuskjell, Eldfisk, Edda, and Embla fields) the pipeline carries oil from Valhall, Hod, Gyda, Ula, Tambar, and Oselvar fields in the Norwegian zone, and from several of the UK's oil fields, such as Fulmar and Judy (see table). A tie-in point for UK fields is located about 50 kilometres (31 mi) from Ekofisk. It has a landfall at Teesside Refinery in England.[2]

The length of pipeline is 354 kilometres (220 mi) and it has diameter of 34 inches (860 mm). The pipeline is owned by Norpipe Oil AS, a consortium which includes ConocoPhillips Skandinavia AS (35.05%), TotalFinaElf Exploration Norge AS (34.93%), Statoil (18.5%), Eni Norge AS (6.52%), and SDFI (5%). It is operated by ConocoPhillips Skandinavia AS.[2] The pipeline was commissioned in 1975.[3] The Petroleum Safety Authority Norway has granted consent to use the pipeline until 2028.[1] The Norpipe oil pipeline originally had two intermediate booster pump installations in the UK sector designated 37/4A and 36/22A, these were seldom used and were subsequently bypassed. The booster platforms were removed in 2009/10 as part of the greater Ekofisk decommissioning.[4]

Booster pumping stations

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The specification of the booster station was as follows.[5] [6]

Norpipe booster stations
Designation Norpipe 37/4A Norpipe 36/22A
Distance from Ekofisk 2/4 J 123 km 235 km
Distance from Teesside 231 km 119 km
Water depth 85 m 81 m
Fabricated McDermott, Ardersier UIE Cherbourg and St Wandrille
Total weight 9,750 tonnes
Installed 1974 1974
Operational 14 October 1975 1975
Drive 3 × GE (MS-3002J) 2-Stage axial gas turbines 11,800 / 14,400 hp 3 × GE (MS-3002J) 2-Stage axial  gas turbines 11,800 / 14,400 hp
Fuel Diesel or crude oil Diesel or crude oil
Pump 3 × Bingham 1-stage centrifugal pumps 3 × Bingham 1-stage centrifugal pumps
Generators 3 × Bergen 640kVA diesel sets 3 × Bergen 640kVA diesel sets
Pigging equipment Yes Yes
Accommodation 2 storey, 24 beds 2 × double, 5 × four bed cabins 3 storey, 31 beds 1 × single, 9 × double, 3 × four bed
Crew 10
Firewater pumps Yes Yes
Helideck Super Puma Super Puma
Utilities Telemetry, lube oil, chemicals, instrument and plant air, steam, potable water, cranes and lifting equipment 2 × B-E MK 60 Cranes
Shutdown November 1981 1977
Occupation ceased 1983 1983
Pipeline bypass 1994 1994
Topsides removed 2009 2009
Jacket removed 2010 2010

UK fields and Norpipe

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The following fields and installations export oil into the Norpipe pipeline.[7] [8]

Fields exporting to Norpipe
Field Installation Production to Length Diameter, inches Year commissioned
Ekofisk Platform 2/4 J Teesside terminal 354 km 34 1975
Judy Platform Norpipe UK Tee via Northern Wye and Southern Wye 24 1997
Joanne Subsea Judy 5.5 km 2 x 12-inch 2002
Jasmine Platform Judy 6 miles 16 2013
Jade Platform Judy 17.3 km 16 2002
Stella Semi-submersible FPF-1 Southern Wye / Tanker 44 km 10 2016
Harrier Subsea Stella FPF-1 7 km 2018
Fulmar Platform Southern Wye 15.5 km 24 1997 Fulmar had formerly used offshore tanker loading
Auk Platform Fulmar 12 km 8 1975
Auk North Subsea Fulmar 10.7 km 8 2011
Gannet Platform Fulmar 107 km 16 1992
Clyde Platform Fulmar 11  km 16 1986
Orion Subsea Clyde 16.3 km 10 1999
Flyndre Subsea Clyde 20 km 8 2017

Throughput

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The annual oil production from 1998 (in 1000 tonnes) was:[9]

The total oil throughput of the terminal up to the end of 2021 was 104.585 million tonnes.[9]

Natural gas pipeline

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The 440-kilometre (270 mi) long Norpipe natural gas pipeline runs from Ekofisk to a receiving terminal at Emden in Germany. The diameter of pipeline is 36 inches (910 mm) and it has capacity of 16 billion cubic metres (570 billion cubic feet) of natural gas per year.[10] The natural gas pipeline was commissioned in 1977 and will be in use until 2028.[11] The start-up investment was 26.4 billion Norwegian krone. The pipeline is owned by Gassled and operated by Gassco.[11] The technical service provider is ConocoPhillips.

On 30 September 1995, a German cargo ship Reint collided with the Norpipe H7-platform in the German continental shelf. Only minimal damages to the platform, and no injuries to people were caused.[12] The H7 platform has been off-the-service since 1999, and in 2007 a bypass pipe laid around the platform.[13]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "ConocoPhillips Gets Go Ahead to Use Norpipe Oil Pipeline Until 2028". Rigzone. 22 July 2008. Retrieved 10 November 2009.
  2. ^ a b "Pipeline Facts" (PDF). Statoil. Retrieved 9 October 2010.
  3. ^ "Norpipe Oil Pipeline". Subsea Oil & Gas Directory. Retrieved 10 November 2009.
  4. ^ Heerema. "Ekofisk". Heerema. Retrieved 19 September 2020.
  5. ^ "Norpipe 36/22 A". ekofisk. 24 October 2016. Retrieved 3 October 2020.
  6. ^ "Norpipe 37/4 A". ekofisk. 24 November 2016. Retrieved 3 October 2020.
  7. ^ "Judy Joanne". chrysaor. Retrieved 2 October 2020.
  8. ^ "Fulmar" (PDF). repsol. Retrieved 2 October 2020.
  9. ^ a b Digest of UK Energy Statistics (DUKES) Annex F.1 Crude oil
  10. ^ "Natural gas in the Nordic countries" (PDF). Nordic Energy Perspectives. March 2009. p. 31. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 July 2011. Retrieved 10 November 2009.
  11. ^ a b "Gassco gets consent to use B-11 facility, Norpipe until 2028". Scandinavian Oil-Gas Magazine. 20 January 2009. ISSN 1500-709X. Retrieved 10 November 2009.
  12. ^ Vinnem, Jan Erik (2007). Offshore risk assessment: principles, modelling and applications of QRA studies. Springer. ISBN 978-1-84628-716-9. Retrieved 10 November 2009.
  13. ^ "Gassco plugs in Norpipe bypass". Upstream Online. NHST Media Group. 25 June 2007. Retrieved 10 November 2009.
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