Equinor strikes oil in North Sea

Norwegian state-owned energy giant Equinor has made a small oil discovery in the North Sea off the coast of Norway, using one of the semi-submersible rigs owned by the Aberdeen-based Odfjell Drilling, an offshore drilling contractor.

According to the Norwegian Offshore Directorate (NOD), Equinor is richer for another oil discovery in the North Sea, as drilling operations at the well 25/11-H-1 H have resulted in a black gold find. However, the licensees will consider whether this discovery, located at the Svalin field, is sufficiently profitable for production.

Furthermore, the preliminary calculations show between 0 and 0.1 million standard cubic meters of recoverable oil equivalent, which is the equivalent of between 0 and 0.6 million barrels. This oil discovery was made with the Deepsea Aberdeen rig in production license 169, which was awarded on March 1, 1991, and is valid until March 1, 2030.

Equinor (57%) is the operator of the license while Petoro (30%) and Var Energi (13%) are its partners. The well 25/11-H-1 H encountered oil in thin sandstone layers of less than 3 m with very good reservoir quality in the Balder Formation, which is part of the Rogaland Group.

Moreover, NOD explains that the oil in the Balder Formation is presumed to be in pressure communication with surrounding reservoir sands in the Heimdal Formation on the Svalin C structure. The oil/water contact was not encountered.

Located in the central part of the North Sea, six kilometers southwest of the Grane field, in a water depth of 120 meters, the Svalin field was discovered in 1992, and the plan for development and operation (PDO) was approved in 2012. The field’s development entailed a multilateral well drilled from the Grane platform (Svalin M) and a subsea facility tied into Grane (Svalin C). The production started in 2014.

Equinor added eight more wells to the Deepsea Aberdeen rig’s backlog earlier in the week, which was enabled by the contract Odfjell and the Norwegian energy giant entered into in November 2020, following a letter of intent from October 2020. 

With a drilling depth capacity of 10,670 meters, the 2014-built Deepsea Aberdeen is a harsh environment semi-submersible, dual derrick rig of enhanced GVA 7500 design, capable of working at water depths of up to 3,000 meters.

After a value-neutral asset swap agreement with Petoro, Kjetil Hove, Equinor’s Executive Vice President for Exploration and Production Norway, confirmed that the Norwegian state-owned energy giant was determined to continue the development and the value creation on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS).