On 27 August, production started from Equinor’s Troll phase 3 project in the Norwegian North Sea. The project has a break-even price below $10 and CO2 emissions of less than 0.1 kg per barrel oil equivalent. 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. Investments are approximately NOK 8 billion.
Arne Sigve Nylund, executive vice president of Projects, Drilling and Procurement at Equinor said Troll phase 3 is one of the most profitable projects throughout the company’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 project has been executed without serious injuries, which is extremely important.”
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 per cent 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.
“Troll phase 3 will extend the life of Troll A and the Kollsnes processing plant beyond 2050, and the plateau period by 5-7 years. This will help secure jobs offshore, at Sandsli and at Kollsnes for both Equinor and its suppliers for several decades into the future,“ says Kjetil Hove, Equinor’s executive vice president for Exploration and Production Norway.
Like several other projects, Troll phase 3 has also felt the effects of Covid-19. The original start-up date for the project was in the second quarter of 2021, but pandemic-related labour shortages and infection control measures have delayed start-up somewhat.
Troll is Norway’s largest gas producer, with large reserves still left in the ground. After more than 20 years of production, 65 per cent of the gas has still not been recovered. 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.
A comprehensive development plan has been drawn up for the gas in the Troll field, which makes it likely that new wells will be drilled, and new infrastructure will be installed on the field.
The Troll partners are Equinor Energy AS 30.58% (operator), Petoro AS 56%, AS Norske Shell 8.10%, TotalEnergies EP Norge AS 3.69%, ConocoPhillips Skandinavia AS 1.62%.
