Important milestone for Njord gas export

MODULES IN PLACE: The two modules for gas export from Njord A were lifted into place on Sunday morning. (Photo: Kjetil Nes)

(June 26, 2007) A number of successful operations connected with the Njord Gas Export project were carried out on the Hydro-operated Njord A platform in the Norwegian Sea over the weekend.

A riser and two modules were installed with the help of the pipe laying vessel ‘Acergy Falcon’ and Saipem’s lifting vessel ‘S7000’.

‘Acergy Falcon’ installed the flexible riser for gas export and completed the laying of the control cable on Thursday, whilst the ‘S7000’ took the two modules on board at Trondheim harbor on Friday night.

At around 13:00 on Sunday both gas export modules, which were produced by Aibel in Haugesund and Prosernat in France, were safely lifted on to Njord A.

Both operations, which are a part of the Njord Gas Export project, went as planned and without any technical hitches.

COLOSSUS AT SEA: Saipem's lifting vessel S7000 towered over Trondheim harbor, with the Munkholmen island in the background. (Photo: Dag Sunnanå)

“With wave height of around half a meter, the sea was calm, which was of course reassuring for an operation such as this. We are very relieved and pleased that the operation was carried out without problems,” says Rune Adolfson, head of Hydro's Njord field unit.

Ready for gas sales

What remains is the replacement of one of the existing production risers. Then the modules will be connected topside on Njord A, as well as installation of the seabed valve and connecting of the riser to the pipeline, and connecting of the Njord pipeline to the Åsgard pipeline.

RISER: The operation to install the flexible riser went without a hitch.

“This puts us right on track with our gas sales commitments from Njord from October 1,” says Adolfson.

To prepare Njord for gas exports, the processing facility on the Njord platform will be upgraded with equipment for drying gas.

A 40-kilometer-long pipeline has been laid from the field to the Åsgard transport pipeline, which links the field with the Kårstø gas facility, and pipelines onward to the European gas market.