Production has started from the Troll Phase 3 Stage 2 subsea project in the North Sea, adding gas supply to the 30-year-old Troll A platform and the Kollsnes processing plant.
The project started production on August 22 and is designed to accelerate production of 55 billion standard cubic metres of gas from the Troll West reservoir, equivalent to nearly two years of France's gas demand.
The project builds on the subsea facilities developed under Troll Phase 3, which began production in 2021, and reuses existing design and standardized solutions. It came on stream just over two years after the partnership's investment decision.
The Troll partnership comprises Petoro, Equinor, Shell, TotalEnergies and ConocoPhillips. Equinor is the operator with a 30.55% interest, while Petoro holds 55.93%, Shell 8.19%, TotalEnergies 3.69% and ConocoPhillips 1.64%.
"We start production with excellent HSE results, ahead of schedule and several hundred million Norwegian kroner below the cost estimate. The main reasons are efficient marine operations and a highly efficient drilling campaign, which was completed 25 per cent faster than planned," said Trond Bokn, senior vice president for project development at Equinor.
The eight-well drilling campaign was completed in five and a half months using Odfjell's Deepsea Aberdeen rig, with services from SLB and Baker Hughes. A 28-km, 36-inch pipeline was installed by Pioneering Spirit, while Aker Solutions built templates and manifolds for OneSubsea and carried out modifications on Troll A.
The project was originally scheduled to start towards the end of 2026, with an estimated cost of $1.32 billion (NOK 12.3 billion).
"Troll is the backbone of Norwegian gas exports to Europe. This project accelerates production from the reservoir, helping maintain today’s high level of gas exports from Troll and Kollsnes for as long as possible. With both Troll A and the Kollsnes gas plant powered by electricity from shore, the gas is produced with very low emissions," added Lill Harriet Brusdal, vice president for Troll and Kvitebjørn.
Troll contains around 40% of the gas reserves on the Norwegian continental shelf, while gas from the field meets around 10% of Europe's demand.
Troll is marking 30 years as Norway's largest gas-producing field this year. The field's gas is transported to Troll A and onward through existing infrastructure to the Kollsnes processing plant.