On Friday last week, production started from the Troll phase 3 project in the North Sea. The new wells are tied in to the Troll A platform and Troll phase 3 will extend the platform’s life past 2050. Recoverable volumes from Troll phase 3, which will produce the Troll West gas cap, are estimated at as much as 347 billion cubic metres of gas. Converted into oil equivalent this amounts to 2.2 billion barrels.
“Troll phase 3 is one of the most profitable projects throughout Equinor’s entire history, while at the same time featuring production with record-low CO2 emissions. This is thanks to large gas reserves and a development solution mostly based on existing infrastructure, such as pipelines, the processing plant at Kollsnes and, not least, the Troll A platform which receives power from shore.
The Troll phase 3 project consists of eight wells in two templates, a new pipeline and umbilical connecting the templates to Troll A as well as a new gas processing module on the platform.
The annual export volume from Troll is equivalent to approximately 8% of the EU’s gas consumption, and the further development of the Troll field also reinforces Norway’s ability to secure gas deliveries to Europe in the coming decades. Over the course of 25 years, Troll A has contributed to transforming the energy consumption in Europe from coal to gas, with far lower greenhouse gas emissions. It was also the first platform on the Norwegian continental shelf to be electrified, as early as in 1996.
The enormous resource base has necessitated planning development and production in three phases:
- Phase 1 is the gas in Troll East, which resulted in Troll A, the Kollsnes gas plant and associated infrastructure. The gas is exported to Europe via the Zeepipe pipelines. Kollsnes is also powered by electricity.
- Phase 2 is the oil in Troll West, which resulted in the Troll B and C platforms and associated infrastructure. The oil is routed to the oil terminal at Mongstad.
- Phase 3 involves producing the gas cap overlying the oil column in Troll West, while simultaneously continuing to produce the oil. The produced gas goes to Troll A and onward in existing infrastructure.
