Equinor Strikes Oil in Johan Castberg Area of Barents Sea
June 30, 2025
Equinor has found oil in an exploration well, dubbed Drivis Tubåen, on the Johan Castberg field in the Barents Sea.
The well, 7720/7-DD-1H, was drilled in the Drivis structure on the Johan Castberg field. According to preliminary estimates, the size of the discovery is 9-15 million barrels of oil.
The oil was proven in a new segment called the Tubåen formation 1769 meters below the seabed in 345 meters of water.
The well was drilled by Transocean’s Transocean Enabler drilling rig as an exploratory extension from a production well. The licensees will consider tie-in of the discovery to the Johan Castberg field.
The Barents Sea is the least explored ocean area on the Norwegian continental shelf. With the Johan Castberg's production facilities in place, it becomes more attractive to explore the neighboring areas.
Going forward, two rigs will drill both production wells and new exploration wells in the areas around Johan Castberg and Goliat.
Equinor plans to drill one to two exploration wells annually around Johan Castberg, the company said.
On 17 June, the field reached plateau and is now producing about 220,000 barrels of oil per day.
Every three to four days, a loaded tanker now departs from Johan Castberg.
Drivis Tubåen is the fourteenth exploration well in production license 532. The license was awarded in the 20th licensing round in 2009.
Transocean Enabler is now continuing drilling operations on the Johan Castberg field in production license 532 for Equinor.
The partners in the Johan Castberg license are operator Equinor (46.3%), Vår Energi (30%) and Petoro (23.7%).
"Only a short time after Johan Castberg came on stream and is producing at full capacity, we have made a new discovery that can provide additional reserves for the field. The Johan Castberg volume base originally estimated at 450–650 million barrels, our clear ambition is to increase the reserves by a another 250–550 million barrels.
“To realize this, we are planning six new exploration wells and continuous exploration activity. At the same time, we will develop Isflak as a rapid field expansion with planned start-up in 2028," said Grete Birgitte Haaland, Equinor's senior vice president for Exploration & Production North.
