Fresh oil discovery in Barents Sea

Norwegian oil and gas player Vår Energi has made a new oil discovery in the Barents Sea off Norway, using a Transocean-owned rig.

Vår Energi obtained consent for exploration drilling and a drilling permit for this prospect, called Countach, in September 2022. The well was drilled using Transocean’s Transocean Enabler semi-submersible rig. The water depth at the site is 398,5 metres.

The drilling programme for the 7122/8-1 S well entails the drilling of a wildcat well in production license 229, where Vår Energi is the operator with an ownership interest of 65 per cent while its partner is Equinor with the remaining 35 per cent stake.

In an update on Thursday, 9 February 2023, Vår Energi confirmed the discovery of oil in the Countach well, northwest of Hammerfest. The firm explains that this well is currently drilled to 2,958 metres measured depth and oil has been encountered in the Realgrunnen and Kobbe formations.

According to Vår Energi, a sidetrack is planned to define the size of the discovery better while extensive data is being collected for further assessment. The Norwegian player says that updated information about volume estimates will be released in due course.  

This is the third new discovery on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS) since the start of 2023. The first one was revealed in January 2023 by Equinor. This commercial gas discovery was made in the Norwegian Sea with an Odfjell Drilling-owned rig.

The second discovery on the NCS this year was also made by Equinor. The Norwegian giant reported the discovery in the North Sea today.

This commercial oil and gas discovery was made using a Transocean-owned rig.