Hydro will double its gas production by 2010 from 6.5 billion to 13 billion cubic metres per year. "We are ready for an offensive in the gas market, and the British market is of particular interest to us," said sector president Hilde Myrberg in Hydro Energy at the English-Norwegian energy conference in Oslo on Friday.
Hydro's gas production will leap upwards when the Ormen Lange field in the Norwegian Sea starts production in 2007.
This increase will come during a period when British gas production is unlikely to be able to meet consumption.
Myrberg reckons the British import of gas will increase and said at the conference that Hydro believes the British market place for gas sales will be particularly interesting.
"We are currently developing a strategy for the British market, so that we will be able to handle a broad portfolio of customers whether they prefer short or long term agreements," she said.
Flexible transport system
She pointed out that Hydro has access to an efficient and flexible transport system for the Ormen Lange gas through the new pipeline, proposed to be called Langeled, which will run from Nyhamna via Sleipner to Easington. The gas can also be delivered in a flexible way via Sleipner to the continent.
Given the access to a flexible transport system and the fact that market analyses indicate a large demand for gas in the future, Myrberg has no worries about the gas from Ormen Lange not being sold before the approved for development of the field - as has normally been the case in developments on the Norwegian continental shelf previously.
"Ormen Lange is the first major field on the Norwegian continental shelf to be approved for development before the gas is sold. But we can deliver gas to the market through a highly flexible transport system and at competitive conditions, so I expect to enter the British market with an open book. This is a situation we are comfortable with," said Myrberg.