Equinor has discovered oil and gas in the Granat prospect near the existing Gullfaks Field on the Norwegian Continental Shelf.
Two wildcat wells were drilled as part of a campaign that also included a Gullfaks satellite well. Of the two wildcats, one was dry and is located in Production License (PL) 152, awarded in 1988. The second well, in PL 277, awarded in 2002, encountered an estimated 1.3 million to 3.8 million BOE of recoverable resources, based on preliminary assessments.
The discovery was announced by the Norwegian Offshore Directorate on 16 February.
The licensees—Equinor as operator, Petoro, and OMV—are evaluating a potential subsea tieback to existing infrastructure at Gullfaks to develop the discovery.
The wells were drilled using the Askeladden jackup rig in a water depth of 137 m. The rig has supported development drilling at Gullfaks since 2018 as part of efforts to extend the field’s producing life beyond 2030.
The successful Granat discovery well targeted hydrocarbon potential in the Tarbert Formation, with secondary objectives in the Ness and Etive formations of the Brent Group, deposited during the Middle Jurassic.
The well encountered a total of 162 m in the Ness Formation, including 47 m of good-quality sandstone reservoir and 26 m of sandstone with poor to moderate reservoir properties. Gas was identified in the Tarbert Formation, while oil and condensate were present in the Ness and Etive formations.
The well encountered a hydrocarbon column totaling 240 m.
Due to unstable wellbore conditions, the discovery well was plugged and abandoned after reaching a total vertical depth of 3,275 m. A sidetrack was subsequently drilled to a vertical depth of 3,715 m and terminated in the Drake Formation.
