Equinor marked the official opening of the Johan Castberg field, which became Norway’s northernmost oil field, it said Aug. 8.
The field, which was developed with partners Vår Energi and Petoro, consists of the Skrugard, Havis and Drivis discoveries in the Barents Sea. It currently produces 220,000 bbl/d.
“The Barents Sea is becoming increasingly important for Norway’s role as a long-term energy exporter, and Johan Castberg will produce safely and efficiently for at least 30 years,” said Kjetil Hove, Equinor’s executive vice president for E&P Norway. “We are well underway and have already made new discoveries in the area. Throughout the field’s productive life, we will make significant investments that will create jobs and opportunities for the supply industry.”
Earlier this summer, Equinor paved the way to more reserves when it struck oil in the Barents Sea’s Tubåen formation in the Drivis structure about 12 km southwest of the discovery well on the Johan Castberg Field. At the time, the company pointed out ambitions to increase the field’s originally estimated reserves of between 450 MMbbl to 650 MMbbl by another 250 MMbbl to 550 MMbbl.
Johan Castberg consists of an FPSO tied back to a subsea field that has 30 wells on 10 subsea templates and two satellite structures.
The field, which was officially opened by Norway Minister of Energy Terje Aasland, joins the Snøhvit and Goliat producing oil and gas fields in the Barents Sea offshore Norway.
Below is a compilation of some more global E&P news.
Exploration
TGS Lands Streamer Acquisition Contact
Seismic data company TGS was awarded a streamer acquisition contract in the East Mediterranean, the company said Aug. 8.
The client was not named by the Norway-based company.
Acquisition is scheduled to begin in the third quarter of 2025 with the contract lasting approximately 30 days, TGS said. The company plans to leverage its Ramform acquisition platform.
Norway Prepares First Major Oil, Gas Licensing Round in Years
(Reuters) Norway’s energy minister said on Aug. 8 he is preparing to launch a new oil and gas licensing round on the Norwegian Continental Shelf, the first offer of new drilling permits in unexplored frontier regions since 2021.
“Norway will be a long-term supplier of oil and gas to Europe, while the Norwegian Continental Shelf will continue to create value and jobs for our country,” Minister of Energy Terje Aasland of the Labor Party said in a statement.
It was not immediately clear when awards could be made.
The government in 2021 agreed to a four-year moratorium on frontier exploration, limiting the awards of new acreage to areas near existing fields in return for backing in parliament of a smaller left-wing party.
The minority Labor government holds a narrow lead over center-right parties in opinion polls ahead of an election for parliament due on Sept. 8.
Norway, which pumps around 4 MMboe/d, around half in the form of natural gas and the rest as crude and other liquids, last year got 60% of its export revenue from the petroleum sector.
But with many ageing fields, production is set to decline in the 2030s unless new discoveries are made in the industry, which directly and indirectly represents around 10% of private-sector employment.
“If we are to deliver on our commitment, we must find more, and in order to find we must explore,” Aasland said.
Field development
Tamboran Reports Record Flow Rate in Beetaloo Basin
Flow tests from Beetaloo Basin wells at Shenandoah South compared to wells drilled in the Marcellus Shale in the dry gas area. SS-2H ST1 aligns with average IP90 rates from a more than 11,000 well data set. (Source: Tamboran Resources)
Tamboran Resources on Aug. 11 said a sidetrack well drilled in Australia’s Beetaloo Basin achieved a record average 90-day initial flow rate of 6.7 MMcf/d, boosting confidence in the Shenandoah South area’s potential.
The shale gas wildcatter said the Shenandoah South 2H sidetrack (SS-2H ST1) had a cumulative production of 601.2 MMcf following a 35-stage stimulation program across a 5,483-ft lateral section in the Mid Velkerri B Shale.
“With flow rates increasing over the last 30 days to 6.5 MMcf/d, without downhole intervention or adjustments to choke, I believe we are seeing the enhanced matrix connectivity achieved during the stimulation program,” said Tamboran Resources Chairman and Interim CEO Richard Stoneburner. “The SS-2H ST1 well represents another encouraging data point as we better understand the Velkerri B Shale’s ultimate performance and recovery.”
Gas rates increased from 6.4 MMcf/d to 6.5 MMcf/d during the 30-day testing period from Day 61 to Day 90, Tamboran said in a news release. The well achieved an average flow rate of 6.4 MMcf/d, with a cumulative production of 192.8 MMcf, during the final 30 days, the company said.
“This data will be important as we prepare to stimulate our first 10,000-foot horizontal section in the Shenandoah South area by the end of the year,” Stoneburner said. “These results, combined with the SS-1H flow rates in 2024, show the significant potential of the large acreage position surrounding the Shenandoah South area, where we are currently progressing a farm down of ~400,000 acres,” Stoneburner said. “The farm down acreage is expected to be developed over the coming years to supply into the anticipated shortfall emerging in the East Coast gas market.”
The sidetrack well was suspended ahead of the start of gas sales to the Northern Territory government via the Sturt Plateau Compression Facility in mid-2026, subject to weather conditions and final stakeholder approvals, Tamboran said.
The results were released as the company continues to progress a three-well drilling campaign in the basin. Tamboran said the SS-5H and SS-6H wells were drilled, and the rig is currently drilling the intermediate section of the SS-4H well. When the section is completed, the company said it plans to begin drilling 10,000-ft horizontal sections of the three wells.
Expro Completes Remote 5-Plug Cementing Job in Saudi Arabia
Energy services company Expro on Aug. 11 said it has delivered a fully remote five-plug cementing operation, marking what it called a world’s first.
The milestone was reached as the company expands into the Middle East.
“Our entry into Saudi Arabia is more than just geographic expansion—it’s about transforming cementing operations through advanced engineering,” said Jeremy Angelle, vice president of well construction at Expro.
The five-plug stage cementing job was executed with Expro’s Generation-X Remote Plug Launcher and proprietary SkyHook cement-line make-up device in Saudi Arabia, the company said. It was for a 9 5/8-inch casing run in a high-pressure gas well.
“The fully automated solution enabled a complex, multi-stage cement job to be completed with zero red-zone entry or man-riding operations, setting a new industry benchmark for personnel safety and operational control,” the press release said.
Vår Energi’s Jotun FPSO Gets Full Wireless Coverage
Tampnet on Aug. 11 said it has deployed a multi-access edge compute technology with 4G and 5G capabilities on Vår Energi’s Jotun FPSO at the Balder Field on the Norwegian Continental Shelf.
“This is a true industry-first, a digitally enabled FPSO with edge compute onboard,” said Per Atle Sørensen, vice president of market unit North Sea at Tampnet.
The coverage comes as part of Vår Energi’s digital field worker program as the company connects field workers on offshore installations with digital applications. Tampnet’s services include cellular coverage, local compute power and secure private network capabilities to support real-time communication, predictive maintenance, edge AI and remote assistance, according to a news release.
The addition makes Jotun the first FPSO globally equipped with a full private multi-access edge compute enabled private network, Tampnet said, adding it is supported by high-speed fiber-backhaul to the Ringhorne platform.
SLB, AIQ Partner to Advance AI in Subsurface Operations
SLB and AIQ will collaborate to advance the Abu Dhabi-based company’s AI solutions across ADNOC’s subsurface operations, according to a news release.
The partnership involves AIQ’s Energy AI, which combines large language model technology with agentic AI trained for specific workflows across ADNOC’s upstream value chain, SLB said in a news release. Targeted subsurface operations include geology, seismic exploration and reservoir modeling supported by SLB’s Lumi data and AI platform among other digital technologies.
“Early indications of the solution's capabilities in a test environment using 15% of ADNOC’s data, and looking specifically at two fields, resulted in a seismic agent achieving a 10x increase in the speed of seismic interpretation, and a 70% increase in precision,” SLB said.
A scalable version of AIQ’s Energy AI is under development. Deployment is scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2025.
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