Equinor hits the jackpot twice in North Sea with new oil, gas & condensate finds

March 10, 2026, by Melisa Cavcic

Norway’s state-owned oil and gas giant Equinor has made two hydrocarbon discoveries in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea, which it describes as commercial and situated in areas with well-developed infrastructure for export to Europe.

Sleipner field in North Sea; Credit: Øyvind Gravås and Bo B. Randulff/Equinor

Equinor, which has found more oil, gas and condensate in the North Sea, elaborates that the Byrding C discovery was made 5 kilometres northwest of the Fram field in the Troll area and is estimated to contain 4–8 million barrels of recoverable oil.

On the other hand, the Frida Kahlo discovery, which was drilled from the Sleipner B platform, is located northwest of the Sleipner Vest field and is estimated to contain 5–9 million barrels of oil equivalent of gas and condensate. The well is planned to be brought on stream as early as April.

The Norwegian player has participated in the drilling of 26 exploration wells in the extended Troll area since 2018, which also includes Fram, with 19 discoveries already made, giving a discovery rate of more than 70%.

Lill H. Brusdal, Senior Vice President for Exploration and Production in Troll area, commented: “Near-field discoveries like these are important to maintain high energy deliveries from the Norwegian continental shelf going forward.

“The oil discovered in Byrding C will be produced using existing or future infrastructure in the area. We are working together with our licensees to identify good area solutions.”

According to the Norwegian giant, the four most recent exploration wells in the Sleipner area have all proven gas and condensate, with combined estimated resources of 55–140 million barrels of oil equivalent.

Four discoveries were made over three months, encapsulating Lofn, Langemann, Sissel, and Frida Kahlo. The first two together represented the largest Equinor-operated discovery on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS) in 2025.

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Cecilie Rønning, Senior Vice President for Exploration and Production in Sleipner area, underlined: “These discoveries are the result of a targeted exploration effort in the Sleipner area.

“Sleipner is an important hub for gas exports to Europe, and we must do everything we can to identify the remaining resources in the area. The discoveries give grounds for optimism as we plan to drill three additional exploration wells and two new production wells in the area this year.”

Equinor explains that Sleipner is a mature area where the largest volumes have already been produced. As a result, the output from fields in the area is perceived to depend on more discoveries to maintain profitable production and extend their lifetime.

Several years ago, an exploration program was established for the area, including the acquisition of new data and improved seismic methods, encompassing the use of ocean bottom node (OBN) seismic, 4D seismic, and reprocessing of existing data.

This is said to have provided a new and improved understanding of the subsurface on the NCS and has contributed to exploration success in both the Sleipner and Troll areas. The Byrding C prospect was drilled by COSL Drilling Europe’s COSL Innovator rig.

The discovery was made in the exploration well 35/11-32 S in production licence 090 HS, where partners are: Equinor (75%) and INPEX Idemitsu Norge (25%). The Frida Kahlo discovery was made in production licence 046, where partners are: Equinor (58.3%), Orlen Upstream Norway (24.4%), and Vår Energi (17.2%).

Equinor made the Lofn and Langemann discoveries in production licence 1140 together with partner Aker BP in December 2025. The Sissel discovery was made in production licence 1137 together with Orlen Upstream Norway in January this year.

The operator underscores that all the Sleipner discoveries were made in the Hugin formation and are considered commercial, although estimated volumes still vary.

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The Lofn, Langemann and Sissel discoveries are planned to be developed as subsea tie-backs to existing infrastructure, with the aim of bringing them on stream within two to three years. The OBN seismic was delivered by TGS and Axxis and processed by Viridien.

The 4D seismic covering the Sleipner area was acquired for the Sleipner Vest Unit partnership and processed by TGS (PGS). The Sleipner field complex includes the gas and condensate fields Sleipner Øst, Gungne and Sleipner Vest.

The Sleipner installations also process hydrocarbons from the tied-in fields: Sigyn, Utgard, Gudrun and Gina Krog. This is seen as an important transport and gas hub, delivering dry gas to Europe, while unstable oil is transported to Kårstø for further processing and export.

Sleipner also functions as a hub for gas from Kollsnes and Nyhamna, which is transported onward to Draupner, Zeebrugge and Easington. The Troll field is developed with the platforms Troll A, B and C.

The Fram field is developed with two subsea templates tied back to Troll C. The Troll field contains about 40% of the total gas reserves on the NCS, which is interpreted to make it a cornerstone of Norwegian gas production.