Barents Sea oil discovery’s potential strengthened by appraisal ops

January 16, 2026, by Melisa Cavcic

Vår Energi, a Norwegian oil and gas operator, has finished drilling an appraisal well related to an oil discovery in the Barents Sea, confirming reservoir quality and adding recoverable volumes.

While revealing the completion of the appraisal well 7122/8-3 A with two production tests on the Zagato structure in the Goliat Ridge discovery (7122/8-3 S) in the Barents Sea, Vår Energi explained that the well was drilled approximately seven kilometers northeast of its operated Goliat field. The company reveals that production tests corroborated good quality reservoirs and oil quality similar to the Goliat field.

The well tested two intervals, with each showing maximum flow rates of more than 4,000 barrels of oil per day. The preliminary estimates indicate the size of the discovery is between 3.3 and 11.9 million standard cubic meters of recoverable oil equivalent, which corresponds to between 21 and 75 million barrels of oil equivalent.

This is the 14th exploration well drilled in production license 229, which was awarded in the Barents Sea Project (1997). The drilling operations were undertaken with the COSL Prospector rig. 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.

Before well 7122/8-3 S was drilled, the operator’s resource estimate for the discovery was between 2.8 and 10.1 million cubic meters of recoverable oil equivalent. The well’s objective was to delineate the 7122/8-3 S discovery in Middle Triassic reservoir rocks in the Kobbe Formation.

The well 7122/8-3 A encountered multiple oil columns totaling 63 meters in the Kobbe Formation in reservoir rocks comprising 38 meters with moderate to good reservoir quality. The total thickness in the Kobbe Formation is 189 meters.

While oil/water contacts were encountered at 2,098 and 2,187 meters below sea level in the respective upper and lower reservoir zones in the Kobbe Formation, no oil/water contact was encountered in the middle reservoir zone in the Kobbe Formation.

The maximum production rate in the upper reservoir zone in the Kobbe Formation was 738 cubic meters of oil per flow day through a 52/64-inch nozzle opening, with a gas/oil ratio of 95 cubic meters. The formation tests showed good flow properties.

The Norwegian Offshore Directorate announced that the maximum production rate in the middle reservoir zone in the Kobbe Formation was 659 cubic meters of oil per flow day through a 60/64-inch nozzle opening, with a gas/oil ratio of 117 cubic meters.

The appraisal well 7122/8-3 A was drilled to respective measured/vertical depths of 2,285/2,268 meters below sea level, and was terminated in the Kobbe Formation in the Middle Triassic. The water depth at the site is 410 meters, and the well has been permanently plugged and abandoned.

Torger Rød, Vår Energi’s COO, commented: “This achievement strengthens our confidence in the potential of the Goliat Ridge discovery, and we see an opportunity to unlock significant additional resources as tie-back projects to Goliat.

“The recent discoveries reinforce Vår Energi’s position as a leading exploration company on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS) and continue to strengthen our ability to sustain high value production of 350-400 thousand barrels of oil equivalents per day beyond 2030.”

Vår Energi and its license partner, Equinor, have drilled five wells and one sidetrack in the area. A tie-back to the nearby FPSO Goliat is being planned, targeting first production in 2019.

Including the latest well, the Goliat Ridge is estimated to contain gross discovered recoverable resources of 35 to 138 million barrels of oil equivalents (mmboe), and with additional prospective resources, taking the total gross potential to over 200 mmboe.

Vår Energi was recently awarded an adjacent license to the Goliat field in the 2025 awards in predefined areas (APA), which offers additional prospectivity on trend with the Goliat Ridge discovery.