By Dominic Chopping


Equinor and its partners will invest just over 12 billion Norwegian kroner ($1.1 billion) in the North Sea Troll gas field to increase production amid increased European demand for Norway's natural gas.

"We have been working alongside our partners, Gassco and the Norwegian authorities to maximize energy deliveries from the Norwegian continental shelf since 2022," said Kjetil Hove, executive vice president for exploration and production Norway.

The Norwegian energy major has become the largest gas supplier to Europe after Russian supply was cut following the country's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

The company has completed a first phase of redevelopment at Troll and it said the new investments outlined on Friday will include the drilling of eight new wells which will add further 7 billion standard cubic meters of gas production annually to about 55 billion standard cubic meters.

"This project will allow Troll and Kollsnes [processing plant] to continue their substantial contributions to the role of the Norwegian continental shelf in guaranteeing European energy security in challenging times. The gas from Troll alone meets around 10% of Europe's demands," Hove said.

The first wells are scheduled to come on stream at the end of 2026.

Troll contains around 40% of total gas reserves in the Norwegian continental shelf. Gas from the field is sent to Kollsnes on Norway's coast for processing before being piped to Europe.

Equinor is operator of Troll with a 30.58% stake, while Norwegian state oil firm Petoro owns 56%, Shell 8.1%, TotalEnergies 3.69% and ConocoPhillips 1.62%.


Write to Dominic Chopping at dominic.chopping@wsj.com


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