Equinor discovers new oil field near Johan Castberg in Norway's Barents Sea

Equinor announced the discovery of a new offshore oil field on the Norwegian continental shelf in the Barents Sea. The well was drilled to a vertical depth of about 1,521 m below the sea floor (over 1,500 m below sea level) and revealed a 30‑metre high oil column within a 41‑metre thick Jurassic reservoir.

Preliminary estimates by the Norwegian Offshore Petroleum Authority place recoverable resources at roughly 7.6–10.5 million barrels of oil equivalent (1.2–1.7 million m³). The field is located about 6 km north of the Johan Castberg development and is being evaluated for connection to that infrastructure, which could extend the project’s lifespan.

The discovery was made using the Transocean Enabler drilling unit and involves a joint venture of Equinor, Vår Energi and Petoro.