On Tuesday the Troll C platform in the North Sea exceeded its production targets for oil, as specified in its Plan for Development and Operation (PDO) from 1996. Since it came on stream in November 1999, Troll C has produced 366 million barrels of oil.
Troll C was a controversial project. The platform was due to produce from the thin oil layers in the gas province - measuring only 11-13 metres - and this was considered to be extremely demanding.
On Tuesday 30 May, Troll C exceeded the production estimates that were stated in the PDO. At the time the PDO was written, production from Troll C was due to continue until 2016. Today the official reserve estimate is 555 million barrels of oil, with production and value creation planned to continue beyond 2022.
Hydro is working together with its Troll partners to investigate the possibility of increasing the reserves and extending operating time still further.
Great foresight
“Those who worked on the development plan had great foresight, and made sure that Troll C had spare capacity,” Ivar Aasheim, Hydro’s Vice President for Troll, points out.
According to the development plan, 32 wells producing from 11 well templates on the sea floor were planned. The number of wells has been significantly increased, and up until now the platform has produced from 53 wells from 15 well templates.
In addition, the platform receives oil from the Fram field, north of Troll C. Hydro is now working to complete a new development of Fram East, which will bring new oil to Troll C.
A milestone
The fact that Troll C’s oil production has already exceeded the targets in the development plan, after just five and a half years, means that a new milestone in the Troll story has been reached.
“Troll has meant a lot for Hydro and for many extremely competent and innovative supplier companies, particularly within drilling and well technology. Hydro and the Norwegian supplier industry have participated in pioneering work, which has produced ripple effects well beyond Norway’s borders,” Aasheim points out.
In particular, the developments within horizontal multilateral wells have been necessary in order to extract the reserves from the thin oil layers.
“Today Hydro is one of the world leaders when it comes to horizontal multilateral wells. We have brought this knowledge with us in the development of Grane and other fields on the Norwegian continental shelf, and we see that it it gives us opportunities for increased value creation in international projects,” Aasheim comments.