Norway's Equinor has said that the new gas module recently put on the Troll C platform in the North Sea will accelerate and boost production from the nearby Fram field "by substantial profitable volumes."
The Fram oil deposits in the North Sea comprise the Fram Vest and Fram Øst fields. The fields are located about 20 kilometers north of the Troll field at a depth of approximately 350 meters.
Both field developments consist of subsea installations connected via pipelines to the Troll C platform. The well streams from the fields are processed on the Troll C
The 400-tonne gas processing module that was lifted into place on the North Sea platform in May 2019 has increased the gas processing capacity on the platform by a total of 3.5 million standard cubic meters per day, allowing for increased production from the Fram licenses existing and new wells.
"At the same time the gas module allows new future discoveries to be tied in,” says Gunnar Nakken, Equinor's senior vice president, operations west.
The investment, estimated at 1 billion Norwegian crowns was essential to further developing Troll C as a hub for the area, Equinor said.
“This is an exciting area. On behalf of the Fram license, we made one of the largest discoveries on the Norwegian continental shelf in 2019 here, Echino South. In addition, several prospects are being considered for drilling”, says Nakken.
The gas processing module featuring gas drying and cooling units was built by Aibel in Haugesund. Aibel in Bergen was responsible for the engineering work. Overall, Equinor said, some 300 people were involved in the project.
Equinor is the operator of Fram with a 45 percent stake. Vår Energi owns 25 percent, Neptune Energy has 15 percent, and Idemitsu also holds 15 percent.
Commenting on the gas module start-up Neptune’s Managing Director in Norway, Odin Estensen, said: “The start-up of the new gas module for Fram is an important milestone and a further demonstration of our commitment to grow and strengthen our core areas close to existing infrastructure and enhance our footprint in a key geographic area for Neptune."