Final leg of new European gas line completed

STAVANGER, Norway, Sept. 29 (UPI) -- Norwegian energy company Statoil said the last stretch of a 300-mile natural gas pipeline crossing the Arctic Circle has been completed.

The final piece of the 36-inch diameter Polarled gas pipeline was placed more than 4,000 feet below the surface of the Norwegian Sea in the Aasta Hansteen field.

"With this pipeline, we open up for the export of gas to Europe from a completely new area, and with the infrastructure in place it will also be more attractive to explore the area," Statoil project planner Torger Rod said in a statement.

Aasta Hansteen is estimated to hold between 175 billion and 300 billion cubic feet of recoverable natural gas, making it one of the largest fields in the region. Once it starts, an onshore processing terminal will be ready to receive natural gas through Polarled by 2017. The pipeline has the capacity to carry 2.4 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day.

Norway is a main oil and natural gas supplier to the European economy. The Norwegian central bank, Norges Bank, said growth in the Norwegian economy is expected to remain low because of weak crude oil prices and a stagnant European economy.

Statoil said Polarled was built 32 percent under budget for an investment level of around $875 million.

"Based on this, we were able to achieve favorable conditions in the market with regard to capacity and price," Rod said.

The Polarled natural gas pipeline is the first to cross the Arctic Circle on the Norwegian continental shelf.