The Troll A platform rocks like a boat as North Sea waves pound its four gigantic concrete legs, but monitors inside the control room show a steady flow of natural gas continues unabated -- enough to meet the needs of 10 million homes in Europe.

Norway is on track for record gas production this year after Statoil ASA put an end to technical issues that limited Troll’s capacity. And deep within the windswept jumble of pipes and machinery that top the platform 65 kilometers (40 miles) off the Nordic nation’s coast, two newly installed compressors stand ready to maintain the field’s unequaled capacity well into the next decade.

“These compressors provide an extra muscle, they strengthen the Norwegian gas machine,” Grete Haaland, senior vice president for asset management at Statoil’s marketing, midstream and processing business unit, said in a presentation on the Troll platform Wednesday. “They increase Troll’s ability to deliver more gas in the short and long term. That’s extremely important for us.”

Troll is a monster by any definition. It’s Norway’s biggest gas field, accounting for almost a third of gas production and 48 percent of remaining reserves, underpinning its position as Europe’s biggest supplier after Russia. Its platform -- the tallest structure to have ever been moved by human beings -- can deliver 120 million cubic meters of gas each day. Compressor breakdowns that reduced production have been resolved, Statoil said, helping the country to increase output again.

David Fuller's view

Norway had been in the news recently for other reasons.  It has the world’s biggest sovereign wealth fund (SWF), and is expected to tap this $820bn resource for the first time next year to balance its budget.

Norway may still have to do this, not least because of low oil prices, but Statoil’s technological enhancements for its Troll A gas platform will reduce the need to dip into its SWF. 

More importantly, Statoil (weekly & daily) (est p/e & yield) provides just the latest example of the oil and gas industry’s technological advances, which have been with us ever since mankind learned to extract, store and use these fuels. 

Additionally, the long cycle of technological enhancements and breakthroughs - obviously not just for oil and gas but all industries - is now in a visibly accelerating phase, as I have often mentioned.  Just think of all the technological development that you have seen in your lifetime to date, particularly over the last ten to fifteen years. 

As global investors, what lessons can we takeaway from these insights?  The big one, I suggest, is try not become too disheartened and pessimistic during periodic market shakeouts.  They are inevitable, as we know, and opportunities for those who maintain their perspective.  After all, the world generally improves over the longer term, not least in terms of business and social developments in the more enlightened nations, in which we can invest.