Equinor, partners discover oil in the North Sea

Equinor and partners Lundin and Spirit Energy have struck oil in the PL 167 license at the Utsira High in the North Sea. The discovery is currently estimated to contain 15 million to 35 million bbl of recoverable oil equivalent.

“We are very pleased to announce the first Equinor discovery,” Nicholas Ashton, Equinor’s Senior Vice President, Exploration, Norway & UK, said. “This is a good discovery, which we expect will be commercial. In addition, the results from the drilling indicate an upside potential in this discovery.”

The Lille Prinsen well is located 200 km west of Stavanger and northwest of the Johan Sverdrup field. The discovery in the well’s main target is estimated to contain 15 million to 35 million bbl of recoverable oil.

There was one additional discovery made with good reservoir quality over the main discovery, but the volume in this discovery has not been evaluated. The well also appraised the 2004 gas discovery Verdandi and the estimate of 4 million to 11 million recoverable oil equivalent is maintained. Further work will determine whether these two shallower reservoirs can be commercially developed.

“This discovery has good quality and adds new volumes in an important area of the North Sea. We also see a substantial upside in the license that we now aim to clarify as soon as possible together with our partners,” Mr Ashton said.

When the full potential of the production license has been clarified, development will be considered toward the existing infrastructure in the area.