Norwegian company Equinor discovers new oilfield "Omega South" in the Snorre area of the North Sea

Norwegian state-owned energy company Equinor and its co-venturers have successfully drilled a commercial oil discovery, Omega South, in the Snorre area, approximately 200 kilometers northwest of Bergen in the North Sea. The discovery was made on the Omega Sør (South) Alfa prospect, with the confirmation of hydrocarbon presence through well 34/4-19 S drilled by the Deepsea Atlantic rig. Preliminary estimates indicate recoverable barrels of oil equivalent ranging between 25 and 89 million.

The exploration well was drilled within production license 057, and the partners plan to move forward with a fast-track development, tying the new discovery back to existing infrastructure in the Tampen area. The licensees of production license 057 include Equinor (operator), Petoro, Harbour Energy, INPEX Idemitsu, and Vår Energi.

The well encountered oil in Middle Jurassic reservoir rocks of the Brent group, with a total sandstone column of 224.5 meters, of which 127 meters have moderate to good reservoir properties. The well was drilled to a vertical depth of 3872 meters below sea level, a measured depth of 4090 meters, in a water depth of 381 meters, and will be temporarily plugged.

Erik Gustav Kirkemo, Equinor's senior vice president for Exploration & Production South in Norway, commented: "The new discovery will be rapidly tied back to existing subsea facilities and produced through the Snorre A platform. Near-field exploration is crucial for extending the life of already producing fields. Because most of the infrastructure is already depreciated, this oil is cost-competitive."

Trond Bokn, Equinor's senior vice president for Project Development, emphasized: "What's new is that we are now planning the field development even before the discovery is made. This allows a new discovery to be put into production in as little as two to three years. The exploration well was drilled using a template, and the partners plan to reuse both this template and parts of the exploration well for the field development, which reduces costs and enables a faster start-up."

Norway supplies 20% of Europe's oil demand and 30% of its gas demand, but production from existing fields is declining. Therefore, Equinor emphasizes that increasing exploration activity and accelerating the development of new discoveries is crucial. Kirkemo added: "Equinor's ambition is to maintain roughly the same production level by 2035 as we had in 2020, around 1.2 million barrels of oil and gas per day. About 70% of this will come from new wells and development projects, and we plan to drill 250 exploration wells, most of them close to existing fields."

The Snorre field has been producing since 1992 and has continuously received added reserves. The Snorre Expansion project, which started in 2020, added 200 million barrels of reserves and extended the field's life beyond 2040. The new Omega South discovery can be connected to this infrastructure, helping to reduce overall development costs. Bokn stated: "This fits perfectly with Equinor's strategy to optimize its oil and gas portfolio, ensure high value creation, and drive the responsible energy transition. By using existing infrastructure, both the costs and the environmental footprint are reduced, while resources on the Norwegian continental shelf are utilized efficiently."

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