The European Gas Directive and the development of downstream gas infrastructure in Norway

There is strong will to introduce natural gas as an energy carrier in Norway. But doing it requires the development of an efficient transport system, which is so far nonexistent. The investment costs are high and presupposes that economical framework conditions are created that ensure profitable operation. Some concern has been expressed about the requirement of the European gas directive. There is, however, flexibility built into the directive that gives room for market arrangements and market behaviour that to a large extent protect the legitimate interests of the owners of the infrastructure. Thus the directive should probably not be seen as a definitive hindrance to the realization of downstream gas infrastructure in Norway. The essential idea of the gas directive is the Third Part Access (TPA), which implies that gas companies and privileged (major) customers are entitled to use pipelines and other infrastructure in a non-discriminating way