Norway: Siltanews – News Desk
Equinor has made an oil discovery on its Johan Castberg oilfield in the Arctic Barents Sea, the company and the Norwegian Offshore Directorate said in a statement on Monday, News.Az reports
“Equinor has struck oil in exploration well 7720/7-DD-1H, Drives Tubaen, on the Johan Castberg field in the Barents Sea,” the statement said.
The well was drilled in the Drives structure on the Johan Castberg field in the Barents Sea. According to preliminary estimates the size of the discovery is 9-15 million barrels of oil.
“Only a short time after Johan Castberg came on stream and is producing at full capacity, we have made a new discovery that can provide additional reserves for the field. The Johan Castberg volume base originally estimated at 450–650 million barrels, our clear ambition is to increase the reserves by another 250–550 million barrels.
To realize this, we are planning six new exploration wells and continuous exploration activity. At the same time, we will develop Is flak as a rapid field expansion with planned start-up in 2028,” says Grete Birgitte Haaland, Equinor’s senior vice president for Exploration & Production North.
The oil was proven in a new segment called the Tubaen formation 1769 meters below the seabed in 345 metres of water. The well was drilled by the Transocean Enabler drilling rig as an exploratory extension from a production well. The licensees will consider tie-in of the discovery to the Johan Castberg field.
The Barents Sea is the least explored ocean area on the Norwegian continental shelf. With the Johan Castberg’s production facilities in place, it becomes more attractive to explore the neighboring areas. Going forward, two rigs will drill both production wells and new exploration wells in the areas around Johan Castberg and Goliat. Equinor will drill one to two exploration wells annually around Johan Castberg.