Production from the Troll Phase 3 Stage 2 subsea project in the North Sea officially commenced on August 22, supplying additional gas to the Troll A platform and the Kollsnes processing plant.
The development accelerates production of 55 billion standard cubic metres of gas from the Troll West reservoir, an amount corresponding to nearly two years of France's gas demand.
Trond Bokn, Senior Vice President for Project Development in Equinor, said production began ahead of schedule and several hundred million Norwegian kroner below the original cost estimate of NOK12.3 billion ($1.32 billion).
He attributed the savings and early delivery to efficient marine operations and a drilling campaign completed 25 per cent faster than planned.
The eight-well drilling campaign was completed in five and a half months by the rig Deepsea Aberdeen from Odfjell, utilising services from SLB and Baker Hughes. Subsea templates and manifolds were constructed by Aker Solutions in Egersund for main supplier OneSubsea and subsequently installed on the field by Ocean Installer.
The project included extending the umbilical and MEG line from existing infrastructure, along with installing a 28-kilometre, 36-inch (91.44-centimetre) pipeline laid by the vessel Pioneering Spirit. Modifications on Troll A were carried out by Aker Solutions, while spools and pipeline end terminations were supplied by Randaberg Industries.
Troll contains around 40 per cent of the gas reserves on the Norwegian continental shelf and meets around 10 per cent of Europe's demand.
Ownership of the field is held by a partnership comprising Petoro with 55.93 per cent, operator Equinor with 30.55 per cent, Norske Shell with 8.19 per cent, TotalEnergies with 3.69 per cent, and ConocoPhillips with 1.64 per cent.
