The proportion of condensate (light oil) production from Statoil’s Sleipner fields sold to the USA has risen markedly in relation to the same period of 1997.About 25 per cent of the 2.1 million annual tonnes of Sleipner condensate processed at Kårstø north of Stav-anger has been sold to American petrochemical customers. These exports totalled about six per cent of annual production at the same time last year.
"We can sell condensate to the USA at competitive prices," explains trader Helge Kvalbein. This reflects reduced transport costs following an expansion of the export jetties at Kårstø.
Completed in June 1997, the enlargement makes it possible to ship larger cargoes and therefore to be competitive over a wider area.