North Sea yields ‘significant’ black gold discovery

August 21, 2025, by Melisa Cavcic

Aker BP, a Norwegian oil and gas player, has brought its exploration campaign in the North Sea to an end, uncovering a new oil find that augments its hydrocarbon arsenal off the coast of Norway.

Deepsea Stavanger; Source: Semco Maritime

The firm completed the Omega Alfa exploration campaign in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea, resulting in what it describes as “a significant oil discovery” that adds substantial new resources to the Yggdrasil area, with the recoverable volume estimated at 96–134 million barrels of oil equivalent (mmboe).

After drilling operations began in early May 2025, using Odfjell Drilling’s Deepsea Stavanger rig, the team drilled 45,000 meters over three months, including 40,000 meters in reservoir sections, encompassing what is perceived to be the three longest well branches ever drilled on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS), with the longest branch reaching 10,666 meters.

This campaign had five exploration targets – Omega, Alfa, Alfa South, Sigma NE, and Pi – through a multilateral well located west of Yggdrasil. Aker BP preliminarily reported a discovery of 20–40 mmboe in July 2025 from two of these targets. Following the completion of the campaign, the combined recoverable volumes have increased to 96–134 mmboe.

WATCH: ‘Key’ piece of North Sea oil & gas platform ready for next stage

Business Developments & Projects

The Omega Alfa campaign was conducted across the Aker BP-operated production licenses: 873, 873 B, and 1249. While the partners in licenses 873 and 873 B are Aker BP (47.7%), Equinor (40%), and Orlen Upstream Norway (12.3%), the partnership in the license 1249 entails Aker BP (38.16%), Equinor (32%), Petoro (20%), and Orlen Upstream Norway (9.84%).

According to the Norwegian operator, the horizontal drilling method enabled the collection of an unprecedented amount of high-quality reservoir data, reducing subsurface uncertainty and allowing the firm to rapidly advance into concept studies to determine the optimal tie-back solution to Yggdrasil.

Karl Johnny Hersvik, CEO of Aker BP, commented: “Omega Alfa is among the largest commercial discoveries in Norway in a decade. Building on the momentum from the oil discovery at East Frigg in 2023, it marks a major step toward our ambition of producing more than one billion barrels from the Yggdrasil area.

“This is the result of a strong collaborative effort between our own teams and our alliance partners, and a testament to how new exploration methods push the boundaries. We look forward to unlocking even more of the potential in this prolific area.”

The Norwegian player describes Yggdrasil as the largest field development project currently underway on the NCS. Since the plan for development and operation (PDO) was approved by Norwegian authorities in 2023, the firm claims that the project is progressing according to plan, with first oil expected in 2027.

While the proven resource base is approximately 700 mmboe, there is an ambition to grow this to more than 1 billion barrels through further exploration; thus, the Omega Alfa discovery is interpreted to represent a significant building block in achieving this ambition.