Aker BP Fails to Find Additional Oil and Gas at North Sea Discovery
November 2, 2026
Aker BP and its partner Equinor have drilled a dry appraisal well at the Freke oil and gas discovery in the North Sea offshore Norway, failing to prove additional hydrocarbon volumes.
The appraisal well, 15/6-18 S, was drilled in production license 1139, approximately 13 kilometres north of Sleipner and 230 kilometres west of Stavanger.
Freke was discovered in 2009 by well 15/6-10, drilled in the former production licence 029 B. The latest well marks the first exploration well drilled in production licence 1139.
Before drilling, the resource estimate for Freke stood at between 2 million and 4.2 million standard cubic metres of oil equivalent, corresponding to approximately 12.6 million to 26.4 million barrels of oil equivalent.
As the appraisal well did not establish additional volumes, the resource estimate remains unchanged.
The licensees will now evaluate the discovery and assess its commercial potential.
Aker BP operates production license 1139 with a 70% working interest, while Equinor holds the remaining 30%.
The well was drilled by Odfjell Drilling's Deepsea Nordkapp, a sixth-generation, dynamically positioned, winterised semi-submersible drilling rig designed for harsh-environment operations.
The rig is based on the Moss-enhanced CS 60E design.
