How Norway's giant sub-marine gas platform will work

A structure the size of a football pitch has been sent plunging to the bottom of the ocean, 125 miles off the coast of Norway.

It will house a giant compressor claimed to be the world’s biggest offshore machine.

The Statoil equipment has been designed to pump some £20bn ($30bn/23bn euros) worth of gas from a depleted gas field.

It is a technological leap for Statoil to place the compressor on the sea bed instead of on a typical platform perched above the waves.

Torstein Vintersto, project manager for subsea compression projects, explained to Roger Harrabin how the compressor would work.