Equinor and its partners have made a gas and condensate discovery near the Kvitebjørn field in production licence 878 (PL 878) in the Norwegian North Sea through the drilling of the exploration well 30/2-5 S Atlantis.

The new gas and condensate discovery has been made 17 south of the Kvitebjørn field and 10 kilometres north of the defunct Huldra field, both operated by Equinor.

According to the Norwegian oil and gas giant, the new hydrocarbon discovery in PL 878 contains proven reserves between 3-10 million standard cubic metres of recoverable oil equivalent, corresponding to 19-63 million barrels of oil equivalent, as per preliminary estimates.

The wildcat well 30/2-5 S was drilled by the West Hercules drilling rig to a vertical depth of 4359 metres below sea level and a measured depth of 4390 metres, when it intersected a gas column of about 160 metres in the Brent Group. Of this, 60 metres represents an effective Middle Jurassic reservoir rock, said Equnior.

Equinor makes gas and condensate discovery in PL 8278 near Kvitebjørn field in the North Sea. Photo courtesy of Harald Pettersen / Equinor ASA.

The exploration well, which has been plugged and abandoned permanently is the first to be drilled in PL 878. The licence was granted by the Norwegian government in the Awards in Predefined Areas 2016 (APA 2016).

Equinor (60%), which is partnered by Source Energy (20%) and Wellesley Petroleum (20%), said that the licence owners will make a decision whether to pursue the new gas and condensate discovery in an overall assessment of the area.

Nick Ashton – Equinor senior vice president for exploration in Norway and the UK said: “It is encouraging to see that we are able to keep proving more resources in one of the most mature areas on the Norwegian continental shelf. Now we will work on evaluating the potential for profitable and CO2 efficient recovery.”

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