The web-based GasViaGasLed gas transport capacity booking system - developed by Hydro IS Partner for Norwegian state-owned natural gas operator Gassco - officially started operating Jan. 1, 2003.
"It significantly enhances the efficiency of gas transport booking on the Norwegian continental shelf and renders the system transparent," says Anne S. Lycke, who heads up Hydro Oil and Energy's gas portfolio management unit.
The GasViaGasLed system encompasses all natural gas transport capacity from Norwegian offshore fields. The development project started in summer 2002. Approximately 20 domestic and international oil companies are expected to actively use the booking system.
A hybrid of the Hydro web-based GasViaVesterled gas transport capacity booking system (for the Vesterled gas transport system, also developed by Hydro IS Partner), GasViaGasLed "reflects Hydro's leading role as a resourceful innovator," Lycke comments.
The Vesterled gas transport system was incorporated into Gassco in 2002. GasViaVesterled has been incorporated into GasViaGasLed.
Marketplace solution
"We've helped to make a web-based marketplace solution for buying and selling booked gas transport capacity," says Hydro IS Partner's GasViaGasLed coordinator Solveig Torgersen. "It's an online commodities exchange - similar to Nordpool, which books Nordic and European electricity capacity online.
"Customers get a much better overview of booked capacity, which was all recorded on paper in the past," she explains. "They'll actually be able to see available transport capacities online, so they know how much can be bought and sold. The project has opened up new opportunities for us - so it has been imperative to deliver an exceptionally high standard of quality."
User friendly
"System users now have a standardized, electronic way of buying transport capacity in the primary market - and a similar standardized market for trading capacity in the secondary market," says Sjur R. Bøyum, a system user within Hydro Oil & Energy's gas transport unit.
"GasViaGasled simplifies user interaction with operator Gassco for transport capacity needs, provides an overview of the capacity situation and enables Hydro and other shippers to book capacity on a daily, monthly and yearly basis."
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