Statoil's Troll A Gets Twin Compressors - Analyst Blog

Norwegian giant, Statoil ASA's STO share price fell marginally on the announcement of two new compressors being lifted aboard the Troll A platform in the North Sea.

The compressors, which will commence operations next year, are expected to increase recovery from Troll by over 83 billion standard cubic meters of gas. These new compressors will be an addition to two existing compressors. The enhanced recovery from the field will be equivalent to 522 million barrels of oil equivalent, which exceeds output from Aasta Hansteen and Valemon put together.

Built at Aibel's yard in Thailand, the compressor module, is now positioned on Troll A. The new module will benefit Troll A's gas deliveries over the next 5 decades. This placement has been a milestone in itself, as fitting a new module weighing over 6,000 tons on an existing platform in operation is a major task. Three different modules are involved in the project.

The project will enable a daily export capacity of 120 million standard cubic meters of gas and production of 30 billion standard cubic metres per year. The capacity is equivalent to the consumption of over 10 million European households. All the new compressors on Troll, Kvitebjorn, Asgard, Kristin and Heidrun, will together add over 1.2 billion barrels of oil equivalent.

The EIT module (electrical, instrument and telecom) from Haugesund was lifted on board Troll, last summer. The other two modules are anticipated to be put up this summer. The new compressors on Troll A will receive its power supply from shore, in particular from Kollsnes in Hordaland county, Norway. The two compressors can produce an output of 50 megawatts each when in maximum operation mode.

The necessary license has been received by Statoil and the power grid has been bolstered to supply the power required by the compressors.

Currently, Statoil carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). Investors interested in the same sector could consider stocks like Encana Corp ECA, CVR Refining LP CVRR and Matrix Service Company MTRX, all of which sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).