New Barents Sea oil discovery near Johan Castberg field

Johan Castberg FPSO [Photo:Vår Energ]

Stavanger, Norway-headquartered Vår Energi and its partners Equinor and Petoro report a commercial oil discovery in the Equinor-operated Drivis Tubåen prospect in the Barents Sea. This adds too recent exploration success in the area. The discovery will be considered as a possible tie-in to the Johan Castberg facilities.

The preliminary gross recoverable resources are estimated to be between 9-15 million barrels of oil equivalent (mmboe). The well was drilled in the Drivis structure within the Johan Castberg field, as part of the plan to further develop the area.

“This discovery confirms the continued potential of the Johan Castberg area and demonstrates the value of our infrastructure-led exploration strategy,” said Vår Energi COO Torger Rød. “The newly started field has opened up several opportunities in the Barents Sea, a region that remains largely underexplored, but with a high resource potential. With production now at plateau levels and the Isflak development progressing toward sanctioning and start-up in 2028, we are well positioned to maintain high production at Johan Castberg towards 2030 and beyond.”

The Johan Castberg field has been developed with the Johan Castberg FPSO and an extensive subsea installation, with a total of 30 wells distributed across 10 subsea templates and two satellite structures.

Johan Castberg field operations are supported from a supply base and a helicopter base in Hammerfest. The operating organisation is located in Harstad.

Vår Energi is a key player in the Barents Sea, and the company is committed to continued exploration activity in the areas around Johan Castberg and Goliat together with Equinor.

The partners in Johan Castberg are operator Equinor (46.3%), Vår Energi (30%) and Petoro (23.7%).