Equinor Makes New Oil Find Near Johan Castberg

Equinor announced Wednesday that it has made a new oil discovery in Snøfonn Nord at exploration well 7220/8-2 S, which is by the Johan Castberg field in the Barents Sea in production license 532.

Preliminary calculations of the size of the discovery indicate between 37 and 50 million barrels of recoverable oil, according to Equinor, the operator of PL 532. Together with the other licensees - Vår Energi and Petoro - Equinor will consider tying the discovery to the Johan Castberg field, the company noted.

“Snøfonn Nord is an exciting discovery in the vicinity of the Johan Castberg development and can add valuable volumes to the installation in the future,” Kristin Westvik, Equinor’s senior vice president for exploration and production north, said in a company statement.

“In cooperation with the license partners we will consider a possible development,” Westvik added in the statement.

Equinor highlighted that the Snøfonn Nord discovery was made exactly one year after the Isflak discovery in the same area. Snøfonn Nord is the 10th discovery in the Castberg license and the 12th exploration well to be drilled in PL 532.

In a separate statement on Wednesday, Equinor revealed that it and its Halten East partners - Vår Energi, Spirit Energy and Petoro - have decided to invest about $936.4 million (NOK 9 billion) in the development of the area neighboring the Åsgard field in the Norwegian Sea, which comprises six gas and condensate discoveries and option on another three prospects.

The project is planned to be executed in two phases, according to Equinor, which outlined that, in the first phase of the development, six wells will be drilled in the period 2024-2025. Recoverable reserves in Halten East are estimated at around 100 million barrels of oil equivalent, Equinor highlighted. 

Last month, Equinor announced that it had discovered oil and gas close to the Troll and Fram area. Based on preliminary estimates, the size of the discovery is between 25 and 50 million barrels of recoverable oil equivalent, according to Equinor.

In January, Equinor revealed that it, together with its partner Wellesley, had discovered oil in the Troll and Fram area in exploration wells 35/10-7 S and 35/10-7 A in the Toppand prospect. Preliminary calculations of the expected size indicated around 21 to 33 million barrels of recoverable oil equivalent, Equinor outlined.

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