Equinor Makes North Sea Oil Discovery

GALWAY, IRELAND--December 27, 2019--Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--Norwegian oil major Equinor (NYSE:EQNR) (Stavanger, Norway) has announced the discovery of a major oil and gas find in one of the most mature areas of the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS).

The company, along with partners ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Norway AS (Stavanger), Idemitsu Petroleum Norge AS (Oslo, Norway) and Neptune Energy Norge AS (Oslo), have discovered oil and gas in exploration well Echino South, 35/11-23, by the Fram field in the North Sea. It estimates that recoverable resources are approximately 6 million-16 million standard cubic meters of oil equivalent, corresponding to 38 million-100 million barrels of oil (boe) equivalent. Industrial Info is tracking three projects there worth a total of almost $49 million.

Due to the long history of drilling and ongoing production in the area, the company said the discovery probably will be tied back to existing infrastructure. Equinor added that further knowledge of the area and new data investments have "increased its confidence in the exploration opportunities in this part of the northern North Sea".

"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," said Nick Ashton, Equinor's senior vice president for exploration in Norway and the U.K.. "This demonstrates the opportunities that still exist for value creation and revenue from this industry. After more than 50 years of geological surveys on the NCS, we are still learning something new and finding hydrocarbons where we previously thought there were none. By utilizing existing infrastructure, these resources may be recovered at good profitability and with low CO2 intensity."

The partners' shares in the operation are Equinor (45%), ExxonMobil (25%), Idemitsu (15%) and Neptune (15%).

Neptune's Norway managing director, Odin Estensen added: "We are proud to be partnering with Equinor on Echino South, one of this year's biggest and most important discoveries in a mature area of the Norwegian Continental Shelf. These are important resources which can be brought into production quickly through existing infrastructure. It's also a strategically important development for Neptune and underlines our commitment to continue growing our business in the Norwegian sector."

In related news, Neptune, with partners BP and JAPEX, has awarded three-year drilling services contracts for the Seagull project in the U.K. North Sea. M I Drilling Fluids, part of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) (Houston, Texas) will provide mud, drilling fluids and well-bore clean-up services; Halliburton Manufacturing & Services Limited, part of Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) (Houston), will supply high pressure/high temperature completions equipment and Schlumberger Oilfield U.K. will provide perforating services. Seagull is expected to initially produce around 50,000 boe per day (80% oil) across its 10-year design life. Proved plus probable gross reserves are estimated at 50 million boe. Industrial Info is tracking four projects related to the Seagull project.

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