Norway casts light on recent North Sea oil discovery

September 11, 2025, by Melisa Cavcic

Following an oil discovery at a prospect off the coast of Norway, the Norwegian Offshore Directorate (NOD) has revealed further insight into the latest black gold find in the North Sea.

The oil discovery was made in the well 31/4-A-15 B, known as Talisker, near the OKEA-operated Brage field, which was drilled from the Brage platform in production licence 055.

The objective of the well was to prove petroleum in Lower Jurassic reservoir rocks in the Cook Formation and the Statfjord group.

The oil/water contact was encountered at 2,616 meters below the sea level. The licensees are considering tying the discovery back to the Brage field.

The wellbore, which was drilled to respective measured and vertical depths of 10,223 meters and 2,759 meters below the sea level, was terminated in the Lunde Formation in the Upper Triassic.

The well 31/4-A-15 B encountered 25 meters of oil in the Cook Formation, in sandstone layers totaling 52,4 meters, with moderate reservoir properties.

OKEA strikes oil at North Sea license

Exploration & Production

According to the Norwegian Offshore Directorate, the preliminary estimated size of the discovery is 0.3-1.11 million standard cubic meters of oil equivalent or 2-7 million barrels in the Cook Formation and 2.2-4.1 million standard cubic meters of oil equivalent, around 14-26 million barrels, in the Statfjord group in the Talisker area.

The oil/water contact was not encountered. While the well was not formation-tested, data collection and sampling have been carried out.

The wellbore, which has been permanently plugged and abandoned, encountered 63 meters of oil in a total of 171 meters of sandstone in the Statfjord group with moderate to good reservoir properties.