Equinor ASA and its companions have made a pure fuel discovery with preliminary estimates of 1.9-3.1 million barrels of oil equal within the Skred prospect on Norway’s aspect of the Barents Sea.
Properly 7220/5-4 was drilled about 23 kilometers (14.29 miles) north of discovery effectively 7220/8-1 in the Johan Castberg subject within the Barents Sea and 210 kilometers northwest of Hammerfest, the Norwegian Offshore Directorate stated in a web based assertion.
Properly 7220/5-4 is the fifteenth drilled in manufacturing license 532, awarded 2009 and now has 9 oil-producing wells, based on on-line data from the upstream regulator.
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Majority state-owned Equinor operates license 532 with a 46.3 p.c stake by Equinor Power AS. Var Energi ASA owns 30 p.c. State-owned Petoro AS holds 23.7 p.c.
The newest effectively, drilled by the COSLProspector rig of China’s state-owned China Oilfield Companies Ltd., aimed to show petroleum in Center Jurassic reservoir rocks.
Within the major goal, the Sto Formation, drilling encountered a 14-meter (45.93-feet) fuel column in 70 meters of sandstone with good reservoir high quality, the Directorate stated.
“Within the decrease a part of the Nordmela Formation, the effectively additionally encountered fuel in a 3-meter thick remoted sandstone layer with average to good reservoir high quality”, it added.
“Above the first exploration goal, the effectively encountered a 14-meter thick sandstone layer from the Cretaceous, the place a 1-2-meter thick zone within the decrease a part of the reservoir was full of oil. The reservoir high quality is poor to average”.
Properly 7220/5-4 was drilled to a vertical depth of two,144 meters under sea stage. The location has a water depth of 415 meters. Drilling was terminated within the Fruholmen Formation from the Late Triassic.
“The licensees will assess the invention with a view towards a potential tie-in to the Johan Castberg subject”, the Directorate stated.
In late March Equinor began producing oil in Johan Castberg. Recoverable volumes have been initially estimated to be 450-650 million barrels. Equinor stated it had recognized 250-550 million new recoverable barrels.
In June Equinor stated Johan Castberg has ramped as much as its capability of 220,000 barrels of oil per day. “This will increase vitality deliveries from the Barents Sea by 150 p.c”, Equinor stated.
Johan Castberg is the third subject developed within the Norwegian Barents Sea after Snohvit, which began manufacturing 2007, and Goliat, which adopted swimsuit 2016.
As of year-end 2024 estimated useful resource volumes on the Norwegian continental shelf rose 36 million commonplace cubic meters of oil equal (scmoe) to fifteen.61 billion scmoe – earlier than accounting for manufacturing, based on a report by the Directorate February 2025.
The overall determine consisted of 8.73 billion scmoe produced, 2.26 billion scmoe of reserves, 651 million scmoe of contingent assets in fields, 472 million scmoe of contingent assets in discoveries and three.5 billion scmoe of undiscovered assets.
The produced quantity elevated 239 million scmoe from 2023, whereas reserves fell 205 million scmoe. Complete contingent assets fell 17 million scmoe in opposition to 2023. Undiscovered assets grew 20 million scmoe in opposition to 2023.
The rise in undiscovered assets got here from opened areas, with no change in undiscovered assets in unopened areas. “This transformation outcomes from a discount in undiscovered assets within the North Sea, coupled with will increase within the Barents Sea and within the Norwegian Sea”, the Directorate stated.
“Giant areas within the Barents Sea have but to be opened for petroleum exercise, and that is the place the best anticipated worth for undiscovered assets will be discovered”, it stated.
To contact the writer, electronic mail jov.onsat@rigzone.com
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