The Norwegian Offshore Directorate (NOD) has granted consent to start up a new pipeline from the Troll B platform that will help reduce the decline in gas production in coming years, it said on Thursday.
The tie-in connects Troll B to the Kvitebjoern gas export pipeline, which runs to the onshore Kollsnes processing plant, with start-up expected during the fourth quarter of this year, the NOD said.
The gas from Troll B was previously exported via the Troll A platform to Kollsnes, and some of the gas re-injected, it added.
The new gas export solution will facilitate increased gas export from Troll B, as gas injection is no longer needed here, the statement said.
"It also provides additional flexibility as the gas can be exported via both the Troll A and Kvitebjoern gas pipelines," NOD said.
The Troll gas field is Europe's largest and in 2024 delivered a record 42.5 billion standard cubic metres (bcm) of natural gas, meeting around 11 per cent of the European Union's demand, operator Equinor said in January.
(Reporting by Nora Buli, editing by Louise Rasmussen and Nick Zieminski)
