Equinor has made a new oil discovery at the Svalin field in production licence 169 in the Norwegian North Sea, following the drilling of the well 25/11-H-1 H.

Drilled using the Deepsea Aberdeen rig, the well encountered oil in thin sandstone layers with very good reservoir quality within the Balder Formation, part of the Rogaland Group.

The discovery is believed to be in pressure communication with the Heimdal Formation on the Svalin C structure, although the oil/water contact was not reached.

The Norwegian Offshore Directorate said that the licensees of the Svalin field are now assessing the discovery's profitability before committing to production.

Preliminary estimates suggest recoverable resources range between zero and 0.6 million barrels of oil equivalent.

Discovered in 1992, the Svalin field comprises two structures, Svalin C and Svalin M, and has been producing since 2014.

Equinor operates the licence with a 57% stake while other partners include Petoro (30%) and Vår Energi (13%).

In a separate announcement, Equinor has exercised an option with Odfjell Drilling for a batch of eight wells, extending the use of the Deepsea Aberdeen rig on the Norwegian Continental Shelf.

The extension, starting in the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2025, is valued at approximately $121m (Nkr1.29bn) and could extend the rig's contract to Q3 2026, with further options available until 2029.

Odfjell Drilling CEO Kjetil Gjersdal said: “We are pleased to see the exercise of further options for the use of the Deepsea Aberdeen, which has been on a continuous contract with Equinor since 2022.

“With this additional backlog now agreed we have further significant, predictable and increasing revenue generation ahead of us and all of our owned fleet now has secured firm backlog until at least mid-2026.”