Statoil’s North Sea Troll B platform reaches one bn boe production milestone

Norwegian multinational oil and gas company Statoil announced that its Troll B platform, located in the North Sea, has reached a production milestone of one billion barrels of oil equivalent (boe) since it came on stream on September 19, 1995.

For the last three years, Troll B and C combined have been the largest oil producer on the Norwegian continental shelf.

Oil on the Troll field is found in thin oil columns and efficient recovery has required innovative solutions and technology.

When Troll B came on stream in 1995, nine oil wells and one gas injector had been pre-drilled. For more than 21 years, the platform has delivered high oil volumes with excellent regularity. The average daily oil production has been 20,600 cubic meters. In 2016 the average will be 12,000 cubic meters per day, an impressive rate for a 21-year-old “oil lady”.

Based on the average oil price for the years in production, one billion barrels of oil from Troll B has given a revenue of NOK268 billion. Around 200 of these billions have been channeled back to the Norwegian state through direct ownership and taxes – almost 75%.

“The combined oil and gas produced from the Troll field so far represent values worth NOK 1300 billion. After 20 years of production Troll will probably be the highest oil producing field on the NCS for the fourth year in a row. Troll B is delivering high regularity and good HSE results, and this is the result of dedicated employees doing a fantastic job every day, both offshore and onshore,” says Lars Høier, vice president of Troll operations.

During the past years Troll B has had a “flat” production profile thanks to an efficient and active drilling program as well as technology development and implementation. We still forecast another 8-10 years of oil production on the platform.

In 2015 a new record was set when a distance of 145,000 meters were drilled in the reservoir. The budget aims for start-up of 15 new wells in 2016.