Norway's Statoil appoints Wood Group to upgrade Kollsnes gas plant

OSLO, March 13 (Reuters) - Norway's Statoil (Xetra: 675213 - news) has awarded Scottish-based Wood Group an engineering and design contract for modifications and upgrades at the Kollsnes gas processing plant in Norway on behalf of operator Gassco.

The contract includes options for upgrade and expansion of capacity of a gas pipeline from the North Sea Kvitebjorn field to Kollsnes on the west coast.

Norway is western Europe's top gas exporter, supplying about a fifth of the European Union's gas needs.

Kollsnes accounts for 40 percent of the gas deliveries from Norway, 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 expire in December 2017.

Statoil is technical service provider for the Kollsnes plant (Reporting By Ole Petter Skonnord; Editing by Alister Doyle and David Goodman)