Equinor has again struck oil and gas near the Troll field in the North Sea. This is Equinor's eighth discovery in the area since 2019.
The volumes are estimated at between 24 and 84 million barrels of oil equivalent, with slightly more oil than gas. Named Heisenberg, the discovery well was drilled by the Deepsea Stavanger drilling rig. Equinor is the operator, and DNO is a partner.
The discovery is considered commercially interesting, partly because it can utilise existing infrastructure connected to the Troll B platform. However, an appraisal well is needed to get a more precise estimate of the size before it can be concluded whether the volumes can be recovered. The parties are considering drilling the appraisal well in 2024.
"Our Troll exploration play keeps delivering. With discoveries in eight out of nine exploration wells, we are approaching a success rate of 90%. We plan to further explore the area, while looking at possible development solutions for the discoveries that have been made. We have a good infrastructure in the area and can quickly bring competitive barrels from here to the market at low cost and with low CO2 emissions," says Geir Sørtveit, Equinor’s senior vice president for exploration and production west.
Five of the eight discoveries have been made in licences awarded through APA rounds.
It is just over a month since Equinor together with partners made the Røver South discovery in the same area. Through acquisitions two weeks ago, Equinor increased its ownership interests in four of the discoveries made in the area.
• The seven previous discoveries are: Echino South, Swisher, Røver North, Blasto, Toppand, Kveikje and Røver South.
Equinor's exploration strategy
• We will explore for volumes in mature areas where discoveries can be tied in to existing infrastructure to maximise the value of investments we have made over fifty years.
• We will drill between 20-30 exploration wells each year going forward.
• Around 80 percent of the exploration wells will be drilled in known areas close to infrastructure, but new selected areas and ideas will be tested.
• We will drill wells based on three main criteria: high profitability and low break-even prices, short payback period and low carbon intensity.
• Exploration is essential to maintaining the cash flow from the NCS and securing the necessary gas volumes for the development of a blue hydrogen value chain.
