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New oil and gas discovery by the North Sea Troll and Fram area

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The Troll A platform
The Troll A platform in the North Sea. Kveikje is the sixth discovery in the Troll area since the autumn of 2019.
(Photo: Øyvind Gravås and Espen Rønnevik / Equinor ASA)

Equinor, which is the operator of production licence 293 B, has discovered oil and gas close to the Troll and Fram area.

Based on preliminary estimates the size of the discovery is between 4 and 8 million standard cubic metres of recoverable oil equivalent, or 25-50 million barrels of recoverable oil equivalent.

The licence owners are Equinor (51%), DNO (29%), Idemitsu (10%) and Longboat Energy (10%).

Temporarily called Kveikje, this is the sixth discovery in this area since the autumn of 2019. Up to more than 300 million barrels of oil equivalent were proven in the five former discoveries.

We are very pleased to make another discovery in this area that we regard to be commercial.

Lill H. BrusdalEquinor’s vice president for the Troll area
Lill H. Brusdal - portrait

“As we did with the other discoveries in this area, we will consider tying this discovery to the Troll B or C platform. By utilising the existing infrastructure, we will be able to recover these volumes at a low cost and with low emissions,” says Brusdal.

There were several drilling targets in the exploration well. After Kveikje was discovered, drilling continued to the next target in the upper part of the Cretaceous stratigraphic sequence. Smaller deposits of petroleum were discovered that are considered as non-commercial. The well has been permanently plugged and abandoned.

The well was drilled by Deepsea Stavanger.

Plans call for Equinor to drill another exploration well in this area this year.

Map of the Kveikje discovery

Equinor's exploration strategy

  • We will explore for volumes in mature areas, where discoveries can be tied into existing infrastructure to maximise the value of investments we have made over 40 years.
  • We will drill between 20 and 30 exploration wells each year moving forward.
  • Around 80 per cent of the exploration wells will be drilled in familiar areas near existing infrastructure, but certain new areas and ideas will be tested.
  • We will drill wells based on three main criteria: high profitability and low break-even prices, short payback time and low carbon intensity.
  • Exploration is crucial in order to maintain the cash flow from the Norwegian continental shelf and to secure the gas volumes necessary to develop a blue hydrogen value chain.

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