Vår Energi ASA has confirmed an oil discovery in the operated Countach appraisal well near the Goliat field in the Barents Sea.
The preliminary estimated gross recoverable resources encountered in the well are between 4 million and 25 million barrels of oil equivalent (MMboe), bringing the total estimated recoverable resources in the Countach discovery to 10 to 55 MMboe, Var Energi said in a news release. The company operates the license with a 65 percent stake, while Equinor ASA owns the remaining 35 percent.
The company added that the discovery confirms the potential of the Goliat Ridge, where additional gross prospective recoverable resources of over 100 MMboe will be assessed with the planned drilling program in 2025.
Var Energi stated that the appraisal well was drilled following the Countach discovery of 3 to 13 MMboe announced in 2023, which is located about eight miles (13 kilometers) northeast of the Goliat floating production, storage and offloading unit (FPSO). The results from the well increase the estimated gross recoverable resources for the discovery to between 10 and 55 MMboe.
In addition to encountering oil in the Kobbe formation with good reservoir quality, an oil column of over 656 feet (200 meters) was encountered in the Klappmyss formation, “which despite being of poorer reservoir quality, opens new opportunities in the deeper section of the Goliat ridge,” Var Energi said. To assist further development of the Goliat area, the company said it is planning to acquire new 3D and 4D seismic during 2025.
“It is very encouraging to discover oil close to the Goliat infrastructure and we are excited about the potential additional opportunities presented in the Goliat ridge,” Var Energi COO Torger Rød said. “Three more wells are expected to be drilled in 2025, the Zagato North, Zagato South and Goliat North wells, targeting similar opportunities in the Goliat ridge between the Goliat field and the Countach discovery. The potential to unlock significant additional resources is considerable, with the opportunity of being turned into high value barrels by utilizing available production capacity at the Goliat facility”.
Estimated additional gross prospective recoverable resources in the Goliat Ridge at the Zagato North, Zagato South and Goliat North prospects are estimated to exceed 100 MMboe. In comparison, the original plan of development and operations (PDO) for Goliat was based on total expected recoverable reserves of 176 million barrels of oil, underlining the significance of the Goliat Ridge opportunity.
“The Countach discoveries reinforces Vår Energi’s position as a leading exploration company on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS) and in the Barents Sea. We are committed to further develop the Barents Sea as a strategically important petroleum province,” Rød remarked.
The Barents Sea is believed to hold half of the remaining undiscovered resources on the NCS, Var Energi noted. The Countach appraisal well is the first well of the planned two-year drilling campaign in the Barents Sea, a collaboration effort with Equinor, targeting both infill production and exploration wells.
Vår Energi said it plans to drill around 20 exploration wells in the Barents Sea region over a four-year period, as part of the Company’s plan to sustain production at 350,000-400,000 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) in the long term.
Meanwhile, Vår Energi has taken over operatorship of the Trudvang carbon dioxide (CO2) storage license in the North Sea.
The Trudvang storage licence is located in the North Sea, east of the Sleipner field, where CO2 has been safely stored in the Utsira formation for over two decades. The transaction and transfer of operatorship is contingent upon authority approval.
The Trudvang storage license has the potential to store up to nine million metric tons of CO2 annually for at least 25 years, a total of 225 million metric tons, “with indications that the storage potential could be even higher,” Var Energi said in a separate statement.
Rod said, “We are pleased to secure our second operatorship of a CO2 storage license in Norway and wish to explore the possibility to establish viable and commercial business models together with partners and relevant stakeholders. The North Sea has great potential to become a hub for carbon storage, given the proximity to CO2 emitters and the geology which is suitable for carbon storage”.
The license partners in the Trudvang storage license after the completion of the transaction will be Vår Energi CCS AS with 40 percent interest, INPEX Idemitsu Norge AS with 30 percent, and Storegga Norge AS with 30 percent.
Source: by Rocky Teodoro