Statoil has awarded European Marine Contractors the assignment of laying a pipeline between the Mikkel field in the Norwegian Sea and a subsea template on the Šsgard field’s Midgard deposit. The pipeline will have a diameter of 18 inches and a length of 40km. The contract is worth around NOK 80 million. Plans call for the operation to be carried out in August 2002, reports Hans Kristiansen, project manager for the Mikkel development. Statoil will award contracts worth a total of NOK 300–400 million for the gas and condensate field this autumn. These include surface treatment of the Midgard pipeline, laying of a 70km hydraulic cable from the Šsgard B platform to the Mikkel field, installation of equipment as well as pressure testing of pipelines and cables.