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Ownership to gas transportation system – State take-over

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Oil platform at sea.

The gas transportation systems on the Norwegian continental shelf and onshore gas terminals are today owned by different joint ventures, with Gassled joint venture as the main owner. The majority of the licenses held by Gassled expire at the end of 2028.


The Ministry of Petroleum and Energy (MPE) announced today, 28 April 2023, that the MPE has sent a letter to infrastructure owners about its intention to exercise the state's right to take over the part of the gas transportation system which has license expiry in 2028. Further, the MPE states that they want to explore the possibility to establish a 100% state ownership for the main parts of the gas transportation system. To achieve such state ownership by 2029, this implies that the state may need to acquire the parts of the gas transportation system that do not have license expiry in 2028. Where a transfer requires compensation, the MPE is of the view that "such compensation shall be based on the future expected net income that the owners of the infrastructure will have from its ownership" (our translation).



This announcement raises legal and commercial questions, and it is not yet known precisely how this process will be structured.


Link to MPE press release: https://www.regjeringen.no/no/aktuelt/eierskap-i-gasstransportsystemet/id2974526/

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