Equinor ASA and its partners in Norway’s Troll field plan to invest more than $1.1 billion in the western part of the production area to sustain high levels of natural gas exports to Europe beyond 2030.
Norway’s largest oil and gas producer plans to present to Norway’s Ministry of Energy a plan from the Troll partnership that could boost annual peak production from the prolific offshore field to 7 billion cubic meters (Bcm), or roughly 247 Bcf/y.
"We have been working alongside our partners, Gassco and the Norwegian authorities to maximize energy deliveries from the Norwegian Continental Shelf since 2022,” Equinor’s Kjetil Hove, executive vice president of Norwegian Exploration and Production, said. “This project will allow Troll and Kollsnes to continue their substantial contributions to the role of the (shelf) in guaranteeing European energy security in challenging times.”
Output from Troll currently meets around 10% of Europe’s annual gas demand, according to Norway’s Ministry of Energy.
The Troll partners plan to accelerate production to extract around 55 Bcm of natural gas from the production area over the life of the project as a part of the second stage of the Troll Phase 3 project.
The project could include eight new wells from two new templates connected to existing infrastructure, as well as modifications to the Troll A platform. The first wells are scheduled to come online by the end of 2026.
Troll, operated by Equinor (30.58%), is Norway’s largest gas producing field. Equinor’s partners in the field include a Scandinavian unit of ConocoPhillips (1.62%), Norway’s state-owned Petoro AS (56%), a unit of Shell plc (8.10%) and a unit of TotalEnergies SE (3.69%).
Equinor made several new discoveries of oil and natural gas resources in the Troll/Fram area last year, including in mature parts of the field.
The first stage of Troll Phase 3 was initiated in 2021 and also included eight wells, as well as a new pipeline to the Troll A platform. Stage 1 was intended to sustain production levels for the next 5-7 years, while Stage 2 is planned to add on another four years of high-level output.
Equinor estimated that both stages would help stave off production decline through 2036.
The Troll projects, as well as Equinor’s other plans in existing production areas across the Norwegian Continental Shelf, could help Norway meet its commitments to provide a stable alternative for a portion of the Russian gas absence that has been a feature of the regional market since 2022.
Norway currently supplies about 20-25% of gas demand in the European Union (EU) and the UK, according to EU data, with Equinor-operated assets making up a large chunk of that supply.
Norway exports natural gas via pipeline to facilities in Belgium, France, Germany and the UK. In addition, a new pipeline opened in 2022 to allow Norway to deliver gas to Poland via Denmark. Norway also operates Europe’s only large-scale liquefaction facility at Hammerfest LNG on the island of Melkøya.
Liquefied natural gas prices and European pipeline gas prices have essentially converged as more import capacity on the continent and flexible volumes from the United States have helped keep EU storage facilities well stocked.
In April, Equinor management guided that LNG imports would likely drive the overall natural gas market in Europe for the foreseeable future, even as it works to boost pipeline gas supply.
