Equinor and its partners have discovered gas at the Gullfaks South field in the Norwegian North Sea, around 190km north-west of Bergen.
The newly uncovered reserves are estimated at between 500,000 and 1.6 million standard cubic metres of recoverable oil equivalent, corresponding to approximately 3.3 million barrels of oil equivalent (mboe) to 10.3mboe.
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Formally designated as 34/10-D-4 BH, the exploration well was drilled as a sidetrack during the work on a production well.
Drilling operations were carried out by the Askeladden rig.
The discovery lies within the Gullfaks production licence, which is owned by Equinor, Petoro and OMV.
Equinor Gullfaks field vice-president Gunnar Egge said: “It is very positive that it is possible to make discoveries of this size with such cost-effective exploration wells.
“These will be profitable barrels that can help maintain activity and production on the Gullfaks field.”
Gullfaks South is located within blocks 34/10 and 33/12 in the northern North Sea, where water depths range from 130m to 220m.
The blocks were awarded between 1973 and 1995, with parts carved out in 1998.
Gullfaks South acts as a satellite field to the main Gullfaks field and utilises subsea installations for its development.
Phase one was approved in March 1996 and began production in October 1998, while phase two was approved in June 1998 and came on stream in October 2001.
Gas from Gullfaks South is routed to the Gullfaks field and then through Statpipe to the Kårstø gas-processing facility near Stavanger.
Gullfaks South includes other structures such as Rimfaks and Gullveig.
The principal Gullfaks field is located in block 34/10 and comprises three large production platforms with concrete substructures. Gullfaks A started production in December 1986, followed by Gullfaks B in February 1988 and Gullfaks C in November 1989.
In August 2026, Equinor began production from the Troll phase three, stage two subsea project in the North Sea, bringing additional gas to the Troll A platform.
