Equinor and Aker BP Make Gas Discovery in North Sea
August 24, 2026
Equinor and Aker BP have made a gas/condensate discovery in the North Sea, using COSL’s COSLInnovator semi-submersible drilling rig.
The discovery was made in the ‘Linga’ prospect by drilling an exploration well 25/7-13 in production license 782 S, 16 kilometers northwest of the Balder field and 205 kilometers west of Stavanger.
Equinor is the operator of the license with 60% share, while its partner Aker BP holds the remaining 40% interest.
Preliminary estimates indicate the size of the discovery is between 0.1 and 2.1 million standard cubic metres (Sm3) of recoverable oil equivalent (o.e.), according to Norwegian Offshore Directorate (NOD).
This is the third well drilled in production license 782 S, which was awarded in 2015 (APA 2014).
The licensees are now reviewing the result from well 25/7-13 and the other wells to consider further prospectivity and exploration potential in the production license.
Exploration well 25/7-13 was drilled by COSL’s COSLInnovator semi-submersible drilling rig, which is now moving on to production license 50 HS in the northern part of the North Sea, where it will drill wildcat well 34/10-56 S, also operated by Equinor.
