The agreement could also mean a new pipeline being built between Norway and Britain. "Looking at sales and production in the UK market, we estimate that there will be a need for a new pipeline around 2006-2008," head of Statoil's natural gas business, Peter Mellbye said.
A year ago Statoil signed a contract with BP for the annual sale of 1.6 billion cubic metres of natural gas over 15 years. The company said its goal was to boost annual sales to Britain to 10 billion cubic metres.