Troll is now decidely the highest-producing oil field in the Norwegian offshore sector. A new production record of 444,204 barrels of oil per day was set on April 8.
"Keeping in mind many didn't believe oil production on the Troll field could be done, this is a truly remarkable milestone," says Johan Kristian Mikkelsen, manager of Hydro's Troll business unit.
In addition to the combined production record on the Troll field, including both the Troll B and Troll C platforms, a new output high was also reached on Troll C of 224,886 barrels of oil per day.
Troll lies at the top-tier of Norwegian offshore sector production concerning both oil and gas. This is the result of long-term technology development in both the operator company Hydro and its suppliers.
It is first and foremost advanced drilling and well technology that explains how the Troll gas field is also Norway's largest oil producer. New technology for drilling long horizontal wells has been decisive in producing oil from just 8-9 meter thick oil reservoir zones. There are 13 wells drilled on Troll with two lateral wells.
"Lateral wells are a means to significantly reducing costs per well. We're now on the verge of drilling the first well with three lateral branches. This will be the first three-headed lateral well in the world drilled at sea. We envision drilling new wells with both four and five branches," Mikkelsen says.