Norway’s Vår Energi Discovers Gas in Barents Sea

Norway’s oil and gas player Vår Energi, majority-owned by Italy’s Eni, has found more gas in the Barents Sea, thanks to the drilling operations conducted with one of COSL Drilling Europe’s semi-submersible rigs off the coast of Norway.

The exploration well 7122/9-2 for the Elgol prospect, the first in production license 1131, was drilled by the COSL Prospector semi-submersible rig. This rig secured a two-year contract in September 2023 with Vår Energi in the Barents Sea and started the job in the third quarter of 2024.

The partnership between Vår Energi and Equinor allowed them to secure access to the rig for the 2024-2026 period, with the potential for a five-year extension. The COSL Prospector rig, with a maximum drilling depth of 7,500 meters, is of GG5000 design and can operate in water depths up to 1,500 meters. Vår Energi’s partners in production license 1131 are Petoro, Equinor, and Aker BP.

The objective of the 7122/9-2 well was to prove petroleum in Upper Permian reservoir rocks in the Ørret Formation. The well encountered a 1.5-meter gas column in a sandstone reservoir in the Ørret Formation, with moderate reservoir properties. The remainder of the reservoir in the Ørret Formation totaled 28 meters with generally poor reservoir quality.

The well was drilled to a depth of 1,844 meters below sea level and terminated in the Ørret Formation in the Upper Permian. The preliminary estimates suggest the size of the discovery to be between 0.4 and 3 million standard cubic meters of oil equivalent.

Despite the discovery, the Norwegian Offshore Directorate (NOD) deemed Vår Energi’s new gas discovery in the Elgol prospect as not profitable given current price assumptions. The well was permanently plugged and abandoned.

The Elgol prospect is part of Vår Energi’s ongoing exploration campaign in the Barents Sea. The exploration activity will continue throughout this year and in 2026, with the next well on the company’s drilling agenda targeting the Zagato prospect.

In December 2024, Vår Energi discovered oil resources near the Goliat field in the Barents Sea, unlocking further potential in the area. The company plans to drill around 20 exploration wells in the Barents Sea region over the next four years.