Vesterled
title: "Vesterled" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["energy-infrastructure-completed-in-1978", "north-sea-energy", "natural-gas-pipelines-in-norway", "natural-gas-infrastructure-in-the-united-kingdom", "economy-of-scotland", "norway–united-kingdom-relations", "pipelines-under-the-north-sea", "1978-establishments-in-norway", "1978-establishments-in-scotland"] topic_path: "geography/norway" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vesterled" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::data[format=table title="Infobox pipeline"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Vesterled |
| type | natural gas |
| map_caption | Location of Vesterled |
| country | Norway, United Kingdom |
| operator | Gassco |
| owner | Gassled |
| technical_service_provider | Total E&P UK Plc |
| length_km | 360 |
| discharge | 12 billion cubic meter |
| diameter_in | 32 |
| direction | east–west |
| start | Frigg field, Heimdal field |
| finish | St. Fergus, Scotland |
| construction | 1974 |
| est | 1978 |
| through | North Sea |
| par | Frigg pipeline |
| :: |
| name = Vesterled | type = natural gas | map = | map_caption = Location of Vesterled | country = Norway, United Kingdom | coordinates = | photo = | caption = | operator = Gassco | owner = Gassled | technical_service_provider= Total E&P UK Plc | length_km = 360 | discharge = 12 billion cubic meter | diameter_in = 32 | direction = east–west | start = Frigg field, Heimdal field | finish = St. Fergus, Scotland | construction= 1974 | est = 1978 | through = North Sea | par = Frigg pipeline
Vesterled is a natural gas pipeline system, which runs from the Heimdal field (Heimdal Riser platform) in the North Sea to St Fergus Gas Plant near Peterhead in Scotland. The name Vesterled is the term used by the Vikings for their westward voyages, i.e. vesterled = "the way westward".
History
Originally the Vesterled pipeline was known as the Frigg Norwegian Pipeline, which was built in 1974–1978 to transport gas from the Frigg field to the United Kingdom. It was laid in parallel to the Frigg UK Pipeline creating the Frigg Transportation System. | url= http://www.abdn.ac.uk/diss/heritage/energyarchive/pdf/FTS.pdf | title= The Frigg Transportation System | publisher= University of Aberdeen | accessdate=2009-12-19}} It became operational in August 1978. As the Frigg field was running to cease production, the spur line from the Heimdal field was put in operation on 1 October 2001. | url= https://books.google.com/books?id=ME6MdUxEFLgC&pg=PT134 | title= Putting a Price on Energy | publisher= Energy Charter Secretariat | page = 134 | accessdate=2010-02-06 | isbn = 978-90-5948-046-9 | year = 2007}} | url= http://iea.org/textbase/nppdf/free/2004/security.pdf | title= Security of gas supply in open markets: LNG and power at a turning point | publisher= IEA/OECD | page = 124 | accessdate=2010-02-06 | isbn = 978-92-64-10806-6 | year = 2004}}
Technical description
The pipeline is 360 km long and has a diameter of 32 in. The Vesterled pipeline consists of two sections: a 38 km long pipeline links the Heimdal Riser with the former Frigg Norwegian Pipeline. |url = http://www.uk.total.com/pdf/Library/PUBLICATIONS/Library-StFergusBrochure.pdf |title = St Fergus Gas Terminal |publisher = Total S.A. |accessdate = 2009-12-19 |url-status = dead |archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20110717075319/http://www.uk.total.com/pdf/Library/PUBLICATIONS/Library-StFergusBrochure.pdf |archivedate = 2011-07-17 The capacity of Vesterled is about 12 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year. The pipeline system is owned by Gassled and operated by Gassco.
References
::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::