Equinor and partners Vår Energi and Petoro have concluded drilling operations at the Vikingskipet prospect in the Barents Sea without discovering any hydrocarbons.
A wildcat well, designated 7018/5-2, was drilled in production licence 1236.
It is located approximately 190km west of Hammerfest and roughly 140km south-west of the Snøhvit field. Drilling was carried out by the COSLProspector rig at a water depth of 310m.
The objective of the primary exploration target was to identify petroleum in Lower Jurassic reservoir rocks within the upper Tubåen Formation.
The well encountered this formation with a total thickness of 104m, including 25m of sandstone layers that showed poor-to-moderate reservoir quality.
In pursuit of the secondary target, drilling encountered the Nordmela Formation with a total thickness of 643m, containing 60m of sandstone layers with similarly poor-to-moderate reservoir characteristics.
The Stø Formation was also encountered, measuring 272m in thickness with 233m consisting of sandstone. Technical difficulties arose during operations in the Stø and Nordmela formations, resulting in a technical sidetrack.
The 7018/5-2 well was drilled to a vertical depth of 1,880m below sea level and was terminated in the Tubåen Formation within the Lower Jurassic interval. The lower Tubåen and Fruholmen formations as secondary targets were not reached.
Following the completion of drilling, the well was plugged and abandoned.
This marks the first exploration well within production licence 1236, which was awarded in 2024 under APA 2023.
Equinor is the operator of the licence, holding a 50% stake. Vår Energi and Petoro hold stakes of 30% and 20%, respectively.
Snøhvit, which is also operated by Equinor, was discovered in 1984. Approved for development and operation in 2002, Snøhvit is the first field development in the Barents Sea.
Production from the field began in 2007, and development has included multiple phases and several subsea templates. The field comprises the Snøhvit, Albatross and Askeladd structures.
Earlier this month, Equinor and Eneco entered into a five-year contract to supply natural gas to the Netherlands, with deliveries beginning on 1 February this year.
