Equinor, partners discover oil offshore Norwegian Sea

Equinor and its partners have discovered oil in wildcat well 6507/8-12 S in production license 124 B on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. The well tested the Othello South prospect about 4 km north of the Heidrun field and approximately 240 km west of Sandnessjøen in the Norwegian Sea.

Exploration well 6507/8-12 S was drilled by the COSL Innovator semi-submersible drilling rig to a vertical depth of 2,477 m below sea level and encountered multiple oil-bearing sandstone layers in the Åre Formation. The well proved an oil column totaling about 14 m in the upper section of the formation, with additional hydrocarbon-bearing sands identified deeper in the section.

Preliminary estimates place recoverable volumes in the range of 0.95 million to 12.6 million barrels of oil equivalent. The discovery marks the first exploration well drilled in production license 124 B and will be assessed by the partners with a view toward further development in the northern part of the Heidrun area.

Following the discovery, the COSL Innovator has mobilized to drill well 6610/7-U-3 in production license 1014 in the Norwegian Sea, where the objective is to verify potential shallow gas deposits.