OSLO, March 13 (Reuters) - Norway's Statoil hasawarded Scottish-based Wood Group an engineering anddesign contract for modifications and upgrades at the Kollsnesgas processing plant in Norway on behalf of operator Gassco.
The contract includes options for upgrade and expansion ofcapacity of a gas pipeline from the North Sea Kvitebjorn fieldto Kollsnes on the west coast.
Norway is western Europe's top gas exporter, supplying abouta fifth of the European Union's gas needs.
Kollsnes accounts for 40 percent of the gas deliveries fromNorway, making it vital that the plant runs at optimum capacity,Gassco's operations director Svein Birger Thaule said.
Thaule declined to reveal the value of the upgrade contract.
The work will start immediately and the contract will expirein December 2017.
Statoil is technical service provider for the Kollsnes plant (Reporting By Ole Petter Skonnord; Editing by Alister Doyle andDavid Goodman)