Barents Sea: Equinor Makes Oil and Gas Find in Johan Castberg Area

Equinor has made an oil and gas discovery Skavl Stø, an exploration well 7220/8-3, in the Johan Castberg area.

The well was drilled five kilometers south-southeast of the discovery well 7220/8-1 210 kilometers northwest of Hammerfest in the production licence 532. 

"The size of the discovery is preliminarily estimated at between 5-10 million barrels of recoverable oil equivalent. Together with the other licensees, Vår Energi and Petoro, Equinor will consider tying the discovery into the Johan Castberg field," Equinor said. Johan Castberg field is being developed with the namesake FPSO which recently arrived in Norway from Singapore.

Skavl Stø will be further matured together with Snøfonn North and the previous discoveries Skavl (2014) and Isflak (2021). The well was drilled by the Transocean Enabler semi-submersible drilling rig. Skavl Stø is the thirteenth exploration well in the Castberg licence.

The well was drilled to a vertical depth of 1309 meters below sea level and was terminated in the Fruholmen Formation from the Late Triassic. The water depth at the site is 352 meters. The well will now be permanently plugged and abandoned.

The Transocean Enabler drilling rig will now drill development wells on the Goliat field in PL 229 in the Barents Sea, where Vår Energi is the operator.

Credit: Equinor