“The third phase of the Troll development realises 2.2bn barrels of oil equivalent, it has a break-even of less than $10/barrel and a carbon intensity of 0.1 kg per barrel. This is probably one of the most profitable and robust projects in the company’s history,” it said the same day.

The capital expenditures for the project are estimated at Nkr 7.8bn ($954mn), helping extend the productive life of the Troll field beyond 2050.

“The Troll oil and gas field is in a class by itself globally. The plan for development and operation for the next phase of the Troll development submitted today is highly important both to the future value creation for Norwegian society, but also to ensuring future gas deliveries to Europe,” it said.

Since it came on stream in 1995 the Troll field has generated an estimated Nkr 1.4 trillion ($171.2bn) in revenues, equivalent to Nkr 175mn ($21.4mn) per day on average, with even more value still to come, Equinor (formerly Statoil) said.

Towed out to sea in the summer of 1995, the concrete platform was the heaviest and tallest man-made structure ever moved across the earth's surface.

Equinor gave some details of its plans for Troll back in May which include a new processing module to be installed on the Troll A platform.

 Contractor Nexans won the contract to supply the umbilicals required to power and control the subsea system, it said July 3. Phase 3 of the Troll project covers the development of the Troll West structure, which lies in water depths of 330 metres, 25 km north-west of the Troll A platform.

The subsea production systems will comprise two subsea templates or manifolds, as well as nine trees. Each manifold is expected to have four well slots. A total of eight production wells will be drilled and tied-back to the Troll A platform in order to recover the gas reserves. First gas is expected from the project in the second quarter of 2021.