Offshore Staff
Stavanger, Norway — Equinor and its partners in the giant Troll oil field in the Norwegian North Sea will invest just over NOK 12 billion (US$1.13 billion) in infrastructure development in the Troll West gas field area.
The aim is to accelerate production from the reservoir and maintain current gas export volumes from Troll to the Kollsnes processing plant in western Norway until 2030. This will enable Troll and Kollsnes to contribute to securing gas supplies to European customers.
Troll’s gas accounts for about 10 percent of European demand, according to Kjetil Hove, Norway’s vice president for exploration and production.
Stage 2 of the Troll Phase 3 Project calls for drilling eight new wells from two new templates producing 20 MMcf/d, with extended subsea controls from existing templates.
A new gas flow line will be installed between the facility and the Troll A platform, and the platform will be refurbished to accommodate the additional production. Equinor plans to bring the first well online in late 2026.
“We have chosen to use trusted and well-known suppliers, most of whom already have framework agreements with us,” said Geir Tungesvik, executive vice president of projects, drilling and procurement. “The fact that several of them have experience from prior stages of the Troll Phase 3 development is a clear advantage.”
The new infrastructure is expected to increase total gas production from the field by approximately 55 billion cubic meters, reaching a peak of 7 billion cubic meters per year.
The first phase of gas production in the Troll West field, which began in 2021, included eight wells and a new pipeline to the Troll A platform, as well as a new inlet module. This work will extend plateau production by up to seven years.
The second phase would extend this plateau for about another four years while also slowing the decline in production over the next 10-12 years.
Recent upgrades at Kollsnes have increased production from the Norwegian field from 121 MMcf/d to 129 MMcf/d.
May 24, 2024
