Equinor’s latest drilling quest in North Sea hydrocarbon hunt brings no black gold

September 19, 2025, by Melisa Cavcic

Norwegian state-owned energy giant Equinor has finished drilling a wildcat well in the North Sea with one of COSL Drilling Europe’s semi-submersible rigs. This hydrocarbon exploration did not lead to a new oil and gas discovery off the coast of Norway.

After the Norwegian Offshore Directorate gave Equinor a drilling permit for the wellbores 34/8-20 S and 34/8-20 A in production license 554 E, which was awarded on February 17, 2023, and is valid until the same date in 2030, the company and its partners, Vår Energi and Aker BP, embarked on drilling activities about 130 kilometers west of Florø.

The wildcat well 34/8-20 S, which targeted the Narvi nord prospect, is the first well drilled in this production license. The well, which was drilled with the COSL Innovator rig to respective vertical and measured depths of 3,435 and 3,280 meters below sea level, was terminated in the Drake Formation from the Early Jurassic.

The water depth at the site is 375 meters. As the objective of the wildcat was to prove petroleum in reservoir rocks in the Brent Group from the Middle Jurassic, the well encountered the Brent Group with a vertical thickness of 148 meters, 74 meters of which was sandstone with moderate to good reservoir quality.

According to the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate, the reservoir was aquiferous. As this well is classified as dry, it has been permanently plugged and abandoned. Equinor hired the COSL Innovator rig in August 2023 for a two-year contract, starting in the second quarter of 2025, but extension options can expand it by three additional years.

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Norway is determined to pursue further oil and gas exploration activity, as illustrated by the interest shown in blocks that were on offer in the award in pre-defined areas 2025 (APA 2025) round for oil and gas exploration compared to APA 2024.