Equinor Strikes Oil in the Barents Sea

Equinor has struck oil in its latest summer drilling campaign in the Barents Sea. The firm sees this Arctic region as key to the future of Norway's offshore oil and gas industry, and it has acquired extensive E&P lease acreage in the area.

Equinor, along with its partners OMV and Petoro, says that it believes it has found 20-65 million barrels of recoverable oil at its Sputnik exploration well in the Barents. The commercial potential of the site will be explored with a detailed analysis of the formation and an evaluation of alternatives for exporting production from the field. It is located near three previous discoveries - the Wisting oil field, the Intrepid Eagle gas field and the Gemini Nord gas field. 

“We are encouraged by this result as it confirms the presence of oil north of the Wisting discovery, where Equinor has acquired a strong acreage position,” said Nick Ashton, Equinor’s senior vice president for exploration in Norway and the UK. “The geology in the Barents Sea is complex, and more work lies ahead to determine commerciality. But this discovery shows that persistence and our ability to learn from previous well results does pay off."

Equinor is the operator and holds 55 percent of the licence for the block containing the Sputnik well. Its partners are OMV (with 25 percent) and Petoro (with 20 percent).

Equinor's MODU for the project, the semisub West Hercules, has already moved on to the next site in the series, the Lanterna well.