Equinor and its partners Petoro and OMV have discovered gas at the Gullfaks South field in the North Sea, with estimates pointing to between 3.3 million and 10.3 million barrels of recoverable oil equivalents. The discovery is expected to help maintain production and activity at the 40-year-old Gullfaks field, which began production in 1986.
The discovery of additional gas reserves at the mature Gullfaks field in Norway is significant for European energy security, as Norway is a key supplier. It also demonstrates a cost-effective strategy for extending the life of existing oil and gas assets through targeted exploration.
Equinor and its partners, Petoro and OMV, have discovered an estimated 3.3 million to 10.3 million barrels of recoverable oil equivalent in gas at Norway’s Gullfaks South field. The discovery was made using an exploration sidetrack drilled during work on a production well, highlighting the strategy of finding additional resources through drilling linked to existing production campaigns.
The find is located about 190 kilometers northwest of Bergen. According to Equinor, the discovery contains an estimated 0.5 million to 1.6 million standard cubic meters of recoverable oil equivalent. The Askeladden rig drilled the exploration well, formally designated 34/10-D-4 BH.
Gunnar Egge, Equinor’s vice president for the Gullfaks field, stated that discoveries of this size can be made through cost-effective exploration wells and described the resources as “profitable barrels that can help maintain activity and production on the Gullfaks field.” The commercial appeal of such finds depends on development costs and access to existing production facilities.
Equinor did not disclose development costs, a production start date, or expected output rates. For mature fields like Gullfaks, smaller discoveries can help offset declining output and extend the useful life of existing infrastructure, especially when new resources can be developed through nearby wells and processing facilities.
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