Equinor, along with partners Petoro and OMV, has made an oil and gas discovery in production licence 277 in the Norwegian North Sea, following the drilling of the 33/12-N-3 HH wildcat well.
The well, which targeted the Granat prospect, is close to the Equinor-operated Gullfaks field in the Tampen area. Located approximately 190km north-west of Bergen, 33/12-N-3 HH is the first exploration well to be drilled in production licence 277, which was awarded in 2002.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
Preliminary estimates indicate that the Granat discovery holds between 200,000 standard cubic metres (scm) and 600,000scm of recoverable oil equivalent, equivalent to 1.3 to 3.8 million barrels. The licensees are considering connecting the new resources to existing infrastructure in the Gullfaks area.
The drilling campaign involved two wildcat wells, 33/12-N-3 HH and 33/12-N-3 GH, part of activities related to an oil development well on the Gullfaks Satellites in production licence 152.
While well 33/12-N-3 HH delivered hydrocarbons, wildcat well 33/12-N-3 GH in production licence 152 yielded no significant findings and was classified as dry.
Drilled from production licence 050 using the Askeladden rig, both wells targeted reservoir rocks from the Middle Jurassic Brent Group, focusing on the Tarbert Formation and secondary objectives in the Ness and Etive formations.
US Tariffs are shifting - will you react or anticipate?
Don’t let policy changes catch you off guard. Stay proactive with real-time data and expert analysis.
By GlobalDataIn wildcat well 33/12-N-3 GH, drilling reached measured and vertical depths of 6,708m and 3,460m, respectively, before ending in the Ness Formation.
The well encountered a total of 115m in the Tarbert Formation with 48m of sandstone layers displaying moderate-to-good reservoir properties. However, both this formation and the Ness Formation were found to be aquiferous, with a total of 59m in the Ness Formation, including 10m of sandstone with good properties.
In contrast, wellbore 33/12-N-3 HH encountered hydrocarbons across several formations. The initial hole was drilled to a vertical depth of 3,275m but was plugged and abandoned due to instability.
A technical sidetrack, 33/12-3 HHT2, reached measured and vertical depths of 7,846m and 3,715m, respectively, before terminating in the Drake Formation.
This sidetrack encountered a total of 153m in the Tarbert Formation, with 58m of sandstone demonstrating moderate quality.
It also penetrated a total of 162m in the Ness Formation, including 47m of sandstone with moderate-to-good reservoir quality. In addition, it encountered 26m of sandstone layers in the Etive Formation with poor-to-moderate reservoir quality.
The Tarbert Formation contained gas, while oil and condensate were present in both the Ness and Etive formations, resulting in a hydrocarbon column totalling 240m. No oil/water contact was identified during drilling operations.
Both wells have now been permanently plugged and abandoned at a water depth of 137m. Data collection included pressure samples from both sites.
Earlier this month, Equinor reported results for the fourth quarter of 2025 (Q4 2025), with adjusted operating income of $6.2bn (Nkr58.89bn), down from $7.9bn in Q4 2024. The Norwegian oil and gas company’s net operating income for the reported quarter was $5.49bn, while net income was $1.31bn.
Equinor also recently entered into a five-year contract with Eneco for the supply of natural gas to the Netherlands, with deliveries starting from February this year.
