This choice follows the decision to lay a new rich-as pipeline – the Tampen Link – between the Norwegian and UK sectors of the North Sea; this will run from Statoil's Statfjord field to tie-in to the UK's Far North Liquids and Gas System (Flags), which terminates at St Fergus in Scotland. "Deciding to land Skarv and Idun output at Karsto makes it possible to continue the development of these discoveries," said Annette Kvilhaugsvik, who has been Statoil's chief negotiator in the two licenses, and project manager for the establishment of the Tampen Link. According to Ms Kvilhaugsvik, a 'win-win' position has been created for the gas because spare capacity can be used in both Norwegian and British transport systems. The Statfjord late-life project, which will be the immediate user of the Tampen Link, would have required no more than a 22-in pipeline, but the 23-km line is being built with a diameter of 32in to allow capacity for additional gas from the Tampen area of the North Sea, which will give Statoil and other gas owners greater flexibility in relation to transport systems and markets. Plans call for the new line to be laid next year and ready for operation by 1 October, 2007, when Statoil will transfer the operatorship to Gassco. Statoil's partners in this venture are ExxonMobil, Shell, Hydro,ConocoPhillips, and Petoro. The capacity of the Asgard Transport pipeline to Karsto will be upgraded by around 5% to 26 billion cum/yr in order to accommodate gas from Skarv and Idun. Due to come on stream in 2010, the two fields contain just over 38 and 13.5 billion cum of gas, respectively; Skarv also holds 92 million barrels of liquids. Landing their production at Karsto will fill processing capacity for natural gas liquids at this facility for a number of years to come.