Vår Energi's Appraisal Well Confirms Barents Sea Oil Find
November 13, 2025
Vår Energi has confirmed its Zagato oil discovery in the Barents Sea following successful results from appraisal well 7122/8-4 S, drilled just north of the Goliat field.
The well, located in production license 229, about 90 kilometers from Hammerfest, confirmed hydrocarbons in the same formations as the original discovery well 7122/8-3 S, announced in February.
The discovery is now estimated to hold between 2.8 and 10.1 million standard cubic meters (Sm3) of recoverable oil equivalent, equivalent to 18 - 64 million barrels.
The licensees, operator Vår Energi with 65% and Equinor 35% stake, are considering tying the discovery back to existing infrastructure at the Goliat field. The well marks the 13th drilled in production license 229, awarded in the Barents Sea Project in 1997.
COSL's COSL Prospector rig drilled the well to measured and vertical depths of 2,986 and 2,793 meters below sea level, terminating in the Klappmyss Formation of the Lower Triassic. Water depth at the site is 406 meters, and the well has been permanently plugged and abandoned after completion.
The appraisal confirmed an 11-metre oil column in the Tubåen Formation within the Realgrunnen Subgroup, with total reservoir rocks of 8.5 meters of good quality.
Additional reservoir sections were identified in the Kobbe Formation totaling 48 meters, though these were aquiferous, and an 80-metre oil column was proven in the Klappmyss Formation, albeit with poor reservoir quality.
No formation testing was carried out, but extensive data acquisition and sampling were conducted.
