Oil discovery near the Johan Castberg field in the Barents Sea - 7220/7-4

The well was drilled about 10 kilometres southwest of the 7220/8-1 discovery well on the Johan Castberg field in the Barents Sea and 210 kilometres northwest of Hammerfest.

The objective of the well was to prove petroleum in reservoir rocks from the Middle to Early Jurassic Age (the Stø and Nordmela Formation).

The well encountered a total oil column of 109 metres in the Stø and Nordmela Formation, of which about 90 metres were sandstone of moderate to good reservoir quality.

The oil/water contact was encountered 1,897 metres below sea level.

Preliminary estimates place the size of the discovery between 5 and 8 million standard cubic metres (Sm3) of recoverable oil. The licensees will evaluate the discovery with a view toward a possible tie-in to the Johan Castberg field.

The well was not formation-tested, but extensive data acquisition and sampling were conducted.

This is the eleventh exploration well in production licence 532, which was awarded in the 20th licensing round in 2009.

The well was drilled to a vertical depth of 2,080 metres below sea level, and it was terminated in the Tubåen Formation from the Early Jurassic Age.

Water depth at the site is 351 metres. The well will now be permanently plugged and abandoned.

Well 7220/7-4 was drilled by the Transocean Enabler drilling facility, which will now continue on to drill development wells in connection with the development of the Johan Castberg field, where Equinor Energy AS is the operator.