Equinor makes major oil find in North Sea
The Local Norway - [email protected]
Published: 6 Nov, 2019 CET.
Updated: Wed 6 Nov 2019 13:32 CET
Norwegian state-controlled oil firm Equinor has made a major discovery in the North Sea, showing that there is still life in the more mature areas of the Norwegian continental shelf
An exploration well at Echino South, bear the existing Fram field, is estimated to hold recoverable resources of between 38-100m barrels of oil equivalent.
“We are making one of this year’s biggest discoveries in the most mature area of the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS), not far from the Troll field," Nick Ashton, Equinor’s senior vice president for exploration in Norway and the UK, said in a press statement. "This demonstrates the opportunities that still exist for value creation and revenue from this industry."
Equinor Energy holds 45% of the licence, ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Norway (25%), Japan's Idemitsu Petroleum Norge AS (15%) and Neptune Energy Norge AS (15%).
The oil and gas will probably be brought to shore by tying it back to existing oil rigs and pipelines.
"After more than 50 years of geological surveys on the Norwegian Continental Shelf, we are still learning something new and finding hydrocarbons where we previously thought there were none," Ashton said.
"By utilising existing infrastructure, these resources may be recovered at good profitability and with low CO2 intensity."
The discovery comes as Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth and other green groups take the Norwegian government to Norway's main appeals court over the award of ten new exploration licences in the Norwegian Arctic.
Nick Ashton, Equinor's senior vice president for exploration in Norway and the UK. Photo: Equinor
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An exploration well at Echino South, bear the existing Fram field, is estimated to hold recoverable resources of between 38-100m barrels of oil equivalent.
“We are making one of this year’s biggest discoveries in the most mature area of the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS), not far from the Troll field," Nick Ashton, Equinor’s senior vice president for exploration in Norway and the UK, said in a press statement. "This demonstrates the opportunities that still exist for value creation and revenue from this industry."
Equinor Energy holds 45% of the licence, ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Norway (25%), Japan's Idemitsu Petroleum Norge AS (15%) and Neptune Energy Norge AS (15%).
The oil and gas will probably be brought to shore by tying it back to existing oil rigs and pipelines.
"After more than 50 years of geological surveys on the Norwegian Continental Shelf, we are still learning something new and finding hydrocarbons where we previously thought there were none," Ashton said.
"By utilising existing infrastructure, these resources may be recovered at good profitability and with low CO2 intensity."
The discovery comes as Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth and other green groups take the Norwegian government to Norway's main appeals court over the award of ten new exploration licences in the Norwegian Arctic.
Nick Ashton, Equinor's senior vice president for exploration in Norway and the UK. Photo: Equinor
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