Frigg Transportation System
The Frigg Transportation System comprises two 32-inch pipelines carrying gas from the Frigg Field
to Scotland. Its construction and installation set world records for both speed and depth.
Laying two 230 mile-long pipelines in water between 100m and 150m deep pushed technological
boundaries in the 1970s. The pipeline broke a world record: such large pipes had never been used at so
great a depth before. Pipe-laying began in 1974 and finished in 1977. In the brief periods between April
and October when the weather was better, crews worked 24 hours a day. The second world record set
was for laying 2.5 miles of pipeline in 24 hours, a record which remained unbroken until the late 1980s.
Originally the pipelines carried gas exclusively from Frigg. As production from Frigg declined, other fields
were connected to the Frigg Transportation System (FTS). Although Frigg has now stopped production,
the pipelines are still in operation. Built with expectations of a twenty-year lifetime, the FTS has recently
passed its 30th anniversary of continuous service.
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Pig, circa 1970s.
MS 3801/2/4/7
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Dune cutting at St Fergus,
1977 (© James Fitzpatrick
Photography).
MS 3801/2/4/7
The Scottish coast is rocky
and subject to strong
currents, making coastal
pipe-laying difficult. A
winch onshore pulled the
pipeline in from a barge
positioned a mile off the
coast. Onshore, sand
dunes were removed and
the pipelines buried.
Once the work was
completed, Total and a
group from the University
of Aberdeen restored the
dunes and replanted
vegetation to minimise
ecological damage.
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Pipeline inspection
programme drawings,
1978.
MS 3801/3/3/23/2
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Image showing the Frigg
Transportation System
(pipelines) connecting MCP-01,
the Frigg Field and surrounding
fields to the St Fergus Terminal.
Not to scale. Circa 2003.
MS 3801/1/5/8/2
In order for MCP-01 to be
decommissioned, the FTS had
to be rerouted to bypass the
platform. The two bypasses are
roughly one mile long. This
was a major operation, as
obviously no gas could flow
through the pipes whilst the
work was underway. The UK
pipeline bypass was carried out
in summer 2004, and bypass
work for the Norwegian
pipeline in summer 2005.
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