Aker BP Raises North Sea Discovery Estimate
September 25, 2026
Aker BP and partners Equinor and DNO have increased the estimated size of the Verdandi and Lillefix discoveries in the North Sea following an appraisal well that encountered both oil and gas.
Preliminary estimates following drilling put the discoveries at between 1.3 million and 2.4 million cubic meters of oil equivalent, or 8 million to 15 million barrels, up from a pre-drill estimate of 0.6 million to 1.9 million cubic meters, or 4 million to 12 million barrels.
Aker BP has a 50% operating working interest in production license 167, where the 16/1-EA-4 H exploration well was drilled, while partners Equinor and DNO Norge hold 30% and 20% share respectively.
The companies are now assessing the commerciality of the discoveries and a potential tieback to the Symra field.
The 16/1-EA-4 H horizontal appraisal well encountered a 14-metre gas column and a 44-metre oil column in sandstone layers of the Palaeocene Heimdal Formation. The gas-oil contact was found at 1,776 meters below sea level.
A total of 1,515 reservoir meters were drilled horizontally through the oil zone, which had moderate reservoir quality. Fluid samples and pressure data were also collected.
The well was drilled by Odfjell Drilling’s Deepsea Nordkapp rig from the Symra subsea template, about 200 km west of Stavanger, in a water depth of 116 meters.
It reached a vertical depth of 1,864 meters below sea level and was terminated in the Heimdal Formation before being permanently plugged and abandoned.
