Equinor confirms continued Johan Castberg field potential with Barents Sea discovery
Equinor has discovered additional Barents Sea oil at Johan Castberg field and will consider tie-in of the discovery to the field.
Well 7720/7-DD-1H (Drivis Tubåen), the fourteenth exploration well in production license 532, was drilled by the Transocean Enabler rig in the Drivis structure as an exploratory extension from a production well. Preliminary estimates place the size of the discovery at 9-15 million bbl of oil, the operator said in a release June 30.
The oil was proven in a new segment called the Tubåen formation 1,769 m below the Norwegian continental shelf seabed in 345 m of water.
"Only a short time after Johan Castberg came on stream and is producing at full capacity, we have made a new discovery that can provide additional reserves for the field. The Johan Castberg volume base originally estimated at 450–650 million barrels, our clear ambition is to increase the reserves by a another 250–550 million barrels,” said Equinor senior vice-president Grete Birgitte Haaland.
She said the operator is planning six new increased oil recovery wells and continuous exploration activity, while at the same time developing Isflak as a “rapid field expansion” with planned start-up in 2028.
With the Johan Castberg's production infrastructure in place, “it becomes more attractive to explore the neighboring areas,” Equinor said. Now, two rigs will drill both production wells and new exploration wells in the areas around Johan Castberg and Goliat fields. Equinor will drill one to two exploration wells annually around Johan Castberg.
Johan Castberg reached plateau mid-June and is now producing about 220,000 boe/d.
Equinor is operator of the license with 46.3%. Partners are Vår Energi (30%) and Petoro (23.7%).
