Vår Energi confirms Zagato discovery in Barents Sea

Vår Energi ASA confirmed the Zagato oil discovery in production license (PL) 229 in the Goliat area of the Barents Sea, the Norwegian Offshore Directorate said in a Jan. 16 release.

The licensees are considering a tieback of the discovery, which is preliminarily estimated to hold 3.3-11.9 million std cu m of recoverable oil (21-75 MMboe), to existing Goliat field infrastructure.

Drilling details

Appraisal well 7122/8-3 A, the 14th well drilled in the license, was drilled in 410 m of water by the COSLProspector rig to 2,285 m MD and 2,268 m TVD subsea. Drilling was terminated in the Kobbe formation in the Middle Triassic. The well's objective was to delineate the 7122/8-3 S Zagato discovery in the formation.

The discovery was proven in Lower Jurassic-Upper Triassic reservoir rocks in the Realgrunnen Subgroup and in Middle Triassic reservoir rocks in the Kobbe formation in 2025.

The well encountered multiple oil columns totaling 63 m in the Kobbe formation in reservoir rocks comprising a total of 38 m with moderate to good reservoir quality. The total thickness in the Kobbe formation is 189 m. Oil-water contacts were encountered 2,098 m and 2,187 m subsea in respective upper and lower reservoir zones in the Kobbe formation. The oil-water contact was not encountered in the middle reservoir zone in the Kobbe formation. The well has been permanently plugged.

Vår Energi is operator of PL 229 (65%) with partner Equinor Energy AS (35%).