BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 18. Equinor has made an
oil discovery in the Barents Sea that will be tied into its
existing Johan Castberg field, the company said, Trend reports.
The discovery was made in the “Polynya Tubåen” prospect
(7220/7‑5) using the COSL Prospector drilling rig. Preliminary
estimates indicate recoverable volumes of 14–24 million barrels of
oil equivalents.
“With Johan Castberg, we opened a new oil province in the
Barents Sea one year ago. It is encouraging that we are now making
new discoveries in the area. We plan to drill one to two
exploration wells annually here to expand the resource base and
maintain plateau production for a longer period,” said Grete
Birgitte Haaland, Equinor’s area director for Exploration and
Production North.
The Johan Castberg field, located about 220 kilometres northwest
of Hammerfest, originally held an estimated 500–700 million barrels
of recoverable oil equivalents. Equinor aims to increase this by
another 200–500 million barrels.
The region has seen recent discoveries, including the Drivis
Tubåen prospect in June 2025, estimated at 13–20 million barrels.
Last week, construction began on the Isflak development, the first
discovery to be tied into Johan Castberg. Aker Solutions in
Sandnessjøen is building a well frame for two new wells that will
connect to existing subsea facilities.
Partners in Johan Castberg are Equinor (46.3%, operator), Vår
Energi ASA (30%) and Petoro AS (23.7%). The field’s first discovery
was made in 2011, and production began on March 31, 2025.
