The Norwegian Offshore Directorate has approved a project to connect the Troll B production platform on Norway’s side of the North Sea to the Kvitebjorn gas export pipeline.
“The gas from Troll B (Troll East) was previously exported via the Troll A facility to Kollsnes, and some of the gas was injected. The gas injection solution has now been converted into an export solution and tied into the Kvitebjorn gas pipeline located about 2.45 kilometers away”, the upstream regulator said in a statement on its website.
“This entails that Troll B will have the flexibility going forward to export via both the Troll A and Kvitebjorn gas pipelines”.
Flows through the new project are expected to start by year-end, according to the NOD.
“The new gas export solution with tie-in to the Kvitebjorn gas pipeline will contribute to reducing the decline in gas production in the coming years”, said Niels Erik Hald, assistant director at the NOD.
“The Norwegian Offshore Directorate is very pleased that the previous gas injection solution for improved oil recovery will be reused. The fact that it’s being converted into a gas export solution will contribute to further value creation”.
Investment in the new project is expected to reach around NOK 1.16 billion ($116.27 million), the NOD said.
Norway’s majority state-owned Equinor ASA operates the Troll field with a 30.55 percent stake through Equinor Energy AS. Petoro AS, also owned by the Norwegian government, owns 55.93 percent. Britain’s Shell PLC holds 8.19 percent through A/S Norske Shell. France’s TotalEnergies SE has 3.69 percent through TotalEnergies EP Norge AS. Houston, Texas-based ConocoPhillips owns 1.64 percent through ConocoPhillips Skandinavia AS.
Put into production 1995, Troll holds remaining reserves of 582.2 million standard cubic meters of oil equivalent (MMscmoe). The total consists of 564.5 MMscmoe of gas, 3.7 MMscmoe of oil and 14.1 MMscmoe of natural gas liquids, according to government website Norskpetroleum.no.
Last year Troll produced 42.5 billion standard cubic meters (Bscm) of gas, surpassing its previous record of 38.8 Bscm, Equinor reported January 6, 2025.
A riser replacement on the Troll B platform helped raise production in 2024, while the capacity of the Kollsnes gas processing plant has increased from 144.5 million standard cubic meters a day (MMscmd) to 156 MMscmd, the report said.
“The efforts to recover more Troll gas and increase export capacity clearly help ensure that our customers in Europe get the energy security and long-term perspective they need”, said Helge Haugane, then senior vice president for gas and power trading at Equinor.
Source: By Jov Onsat from Rigzone.com