Equinor Finds More Oil And Gas Near One Of The North Sea’s Largest Fields

Energy major Equinor has made an oil and gas discovery near Oseberg, one of the top fields offshore Norway, which could add additional resources to the field, the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate said on Friday.

Equinor and its partners in the license, Petoro, TotalEnergies, and ConocoPhillips, made the discovery about four kilometers (2.5 miles) west of the Oseberg field in the North Sea. Discoveries were made in two different formations, Eiriksson and Cook.   

“These discoveries represent important additional resources for Oseberg. Equinor and its partners will continue to work to improve understanding of the discovery and to identify production solutions for the oil and the gas,” the Norwegian regulator said in a statement.

The well was drilled from the Oseberg C platform, which is an integrated production, drilling, and living quarters platform in the northern part of the field.

The Oseberg field was proven in 1979 and came on stream in 1988.

Crude from the Oseberg field is one of five grades from North Sea fields that are included in the Dated Brent assessment alongside grades produced in the fields Brent, Ekofisk, Troll, and Forties. As of June 2023, the U.S. grade WTI Midland was added to the Brent basket of crude grades.

Norway has been betting on the continued development of its oil and gas resources and has raised its natural gas production over the past year and a half to send more gas via pipelines to Europe, which saw most of its Russian supply cut off after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Earlier this year, the Norwegian government approved the development of 19 offshore oil and gas projects worth more than $18 billion (200 billion Norwegian crowns) in investments. The projects include new developments, additional development of producing oil and gas fields, and investments to increase resource recovery in producing fields. 

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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