Transocean Enabler strikes oil near Johan Castberg for Equinor

Equinor and its partners discovered oil in the Skrugard North Tubåen prospect in the Barents Sea, with the licensees weighing a possible tie-back to the Johan Castberg field.

The wildcat well, 7220/5-EC-2 H, was drilled by the Transocean Enabler semisubmersible about 3.7 miles north of the 7220/8-1 discovery well on Johan Castberg and 149 miles northwest of Hammerfest. It encountered an approximately 98-ft oil column in sandstone in the Tubåen Formation, in reservoir rocks totaling 135 ft with good to very good quality. The well reached a vertical depth of 4,990 ft and terminated in the Fruholmen Formation.

The Norwegian Offshore Directorate estimated the discovery at 7.6-10.5 million barrels of recoverable oil equivalent. This is the 17th exploration well in production license 532, operated by Equinor with partners Vår Energi and Petoro. The well has been permanently plugged and abandoned.