Norway to survey seabed for planned CO2 pipelines

OSLO (Reuters) - North Sea gas pipeline operator Gassco has awarded Swedish Marine Matteknikk AB a contract to survey 636 km of seabed for potential pipelines to carry carbon dioxide to offshore burial sites, it said on Wednesday.

Norwegian Gassco is evaluating possible technical solutions for transporting captured carbon dioxide from a gas-fired power plant in Kaarstoe, near Stavanger, as part of its efforts to lower emissions of heat-trapping gasses.

The CO2 would then be injected and stored in undersea reservoirs or empty fields.

"The survey work to be performed by Marine Mätteknikk AB will provide essential data for the transport routes to be further developed during the pre-engineering phase, due to commence in the first quarter of 2009," Gassco said.

"Suitable locations on the Norwegian Continental Shelf shall be evaluated for the sequestration of the captured CO2."

(Reporting by Wojciech Moskwa)