Oil tunnel for Lofoten projects
The company North Energy believes the construction of a special oil tunnel would make oil production in the promising Lofoten-waters safe and without hazard to the marine environment.
The company proposes to construct huge production halls under the sea bottom and connect these with a system of tunnels to land-based facilities. The production halls would house rigs and other production equipment, newspaper Aftenposten reports.
-In case of an uncontrolled spill, the oil will stay in the tunnel and can more easily be handled, company CEO Erik Karlstrøm says.
-The project is realistic, but costs will vary depending of the geology, Karlstrøm maintains. According to Aftenposten, the DNV has already approved the technical solutions in the project.
A complete tunnel system is estimated to cost up to one billion EUR.
The Norwegian oil industry is currently pushing hard for the opening of the Lofoten waters to exploration. The 2006 management plan for the area bans all drilling. A new plan will be made public early 2011.
