Statoil and its partners (Total, Shell and ConocoPhillips) plan to increase the output capacity of the Troll offshore gas field (65 km west of Kollsnes near Bergen, Norway). The next phase will mostly focus on developing gas reserves in Troll Vest. Following the award of the front-end engineering and design (FEED) contract to Aker Solutions, the partners will work towards a final investment decision (FID), which is now scheduled for 2018. If the project goes ahead, the upgrade will entail the drilling of 8 production wells, the laying of a 36-inch pipeline, and the installation of a new processing module on the Troll A platform.
Troll, the largest Norwegian gas field, accounts for around 30% of total gas output and 40% of the reserves on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS). About two-thirds of the recoverable gas reserves lie in Troll Øst. The gas from Troll Øst and Troll Vest is transported through three multiphase pipelines to the gas processing plant at Kollsnes. Later on, the condensate is separated from the gas and transported by pipeline to the Mongstad terminal. The dry gas is then conveyed in to Zeebrugge in Belgium. It is operated by Statoil (around 30.58%), in partnership with Petoro (56%), Norske Shell (about 8.1%), Total E&P Norge (about 3.69%) and ConocoPhillips Skandinavia (about 1.62%). Troll Vest contains both oil and gas while Troll Øst holds gas reserves only.
As of December 2016, Troll had remaining reserves of 890 bcm (Norwegian share) and produced 32 bcm of gas (2016) according to the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD). The Norwegian authorities allowed Statoil to increase the production up to 36 bcm for 2017.