Equinor has made an oil discovery near Johan Castberg, which could boost reserves at the giant field in the Arctic Barents Sea.
Equinor, whose Johan Castberg field has recently reached peak production, has struck oil in exploration well Drivis Tubåen, the Norwegian energy major said on Monday.
The well was drilled on the Johan Castberg field and the size of the discovery is estimated at 9-15 million barrels of oil, according to preliminary evaluations.
Earlier this month, Equinor said that Johan Castberg hit full capacity of 220,000 barrels per day (bpd), noting that peak capacity has been reached just three months after the field in Norway’s Arctic waters came on stream.
At the end of March, Equinor started up Johan Castberg, following several months of delays due to inclement winter weather in the waters of Norway’s Arctic.
As Norway’s newest oilfield, Johan Castberg it will produce crude for 30 years, boost Norway’s oil exports, and bolster the role of Western Europe’s biggest oil and gas producer as a reliable and long-term supplier of energy, Equinor said.
“Johan Castberg represents a gamechanger for the importance of the Barents Sea for Norway’s future as an energy nation,” Kjetil Hove, Equinor’s executive vice president for Exploration & Production Norway, said.
Equinor plans to drill one or two exploration wells annually near Johan Castberg.
One of them has already yielded an oil discovery.
“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,” Grete Birgitte Haaland, Equinor’s senior vice president for Exploration & Production North, said today.
“To realise this, we are planning six new exploration wells and continuous exploration activity.”
Norway expects its oil liquids production to rise by 5.2% in 2025 from 2024, also thanks to the start-up of Johan Castberg.
Yet, further exploration efforts and new discoveries would be crucial to slowing the expected decline in Norway’s oil and gas production in the 2030s, the Norwegian authorities have said.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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