Equinor and partners Wintershall Dea and Petoro have made a commercial gas discovery in production licence 1128 estimated at between two and eleven billion standard cubic metres of recoverable gas, or about 12.6-69.2 million barrels of oil equivalent.

Exploration wells 6605/1-2 S&A in the Norwegian Sea were drilled by the Deepsea Stavanger drilling rig.

The Obelix Upflank discovery was made some 23 kilometres south of the Irpa gas discovery, and 350 kilometres west of Sandnessjøen.

This is the first discovery made on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS) in 2023, and the first wells in the Equinor-operated production licence awarded in the APA award in 2020.

“We need to find more gas on the NCS. Discoveries near existing infrastructure requires less volume in order to be commercially developed, and can be quickly put on stream with low CO2 emissions. We will together with our partners consider tie-back of this discovery to Irpa, for which we recently submitted a plan for development and operation,” says Grete B. Haaland, Equinor’s senior vice president for Exploration and Production North.

Irpa is a subsea development that will be tied back to the Aastad Hansteen platform. Irpa will extend the life of Aasta Hansteen by seven years, and contribute to more activity at the supply base in Sandnessjøen, for the helicopter base in Brønnøysund, and for the operations organisation in Harstad.

Facts about Irpa
   - The discovery: Irpa (formerly Asterix (6705/10-1) is a gas discovery in the Vøring Basin in the Norwegian Sea, about 80 kilometres west of the Aasta Hansteen platform.
   - Proven in 2009 the recoverable reserves in the discovery include19.3 billion Sm3 of gas and 0.4 million Sm3 of condensate, a total of some 124 million barrels of oil equivalent.
   - Partners: Equinor Energy AS (operator) 51%, Wintershall DEA (19%), Petoro (20%), Shell (10%).
   - The Irpa discovery will be developed through three wells and an 80-kilometre pipeline to Aasta Hansteen.
   - The water depth is 1350 metres.
   - Estimated working hours offshore during development and modifications: 294,000.
   - PDO submission: November 2022.
   - The capital expenditure totals NOK 14.8 billion (2022).
   - Irpa will extend the life of Aasta Hansteen by seven years, from 2032 to 2039.

Facts about the Aasta Hansteen field
   - Aasta Hansteen is located 300 kilometres from shore, northwest of Sandnessjøen in Nordland county.
   - The field came on stream on 16 December 2018. Production at Snefrid North started towards the end of 2019.
   - Gas is transported in the Polarled pipeline to the Nyhamna terminal for further export to the UK. Produced condensate is transported by tankers to the market.
   - The recoverable volume, including Snefrid North, is estimated at 55.6 billion standard cubic metres (Sm3) of gas and 0.6 million Sm3 of condensate. This corresponds to 353 million barrels of oil equivalent.
   - The Aasta Hansteen field is operated from Harstad. The supply base is located in Sandnessjøen, whereas the helicopter base is located in Brønnøysund.

About Equinor

Equinor (OSE:EQNR, NYSE:EQNR), is an international energy company with a proud history. Formerly Statoil, we are 20,000 committed colleagues developing oil, gas, wind and solar energy in more than 30 countries worldwide. We’re the largest operator in Norway, among the world’s largest offshore operators, and a growing force in renewables. Driven by our Nordic urge to explore beyond the horizon, and our dedication to safety, equality and sustainability, we’re building a global business on our values and the energy needs of the future.

About Wintershall Dea

Wintershall Dea is Europe’s leading independent natural gas and oil company with more than 120 years of experience as an operator and project partner along the entire E&P value chain. The company with German roots and headquarters in Kassel and Hamburg explores for and produces gas and oil in 12 countries worldwide in an efficient and responsible manner. With activities in Europe, Russia, Latin America and the MENA region (Middle East & North Africa), Wintershall Dea has a global upstream portfolio and, with its participation in natural gas transport, is also active in the midstream business. More in our Annual Report.

As a European gas and oil company, we support the EU's 2050 carbon neutrality target. As our contribution we have set ourselves ambitious targets: We want to be net zero across our entire upstream operations – both operated and non-operated – by 2030. This includes Scope 1 (direct) and Scope 2 (indirect) greenhouse gas emissions on an equity share basis. Wintershall Dea will also bring its methane emissions intensity below 0.1 per cent by 2025 and maintain zero routine flaring of associated gas in its operations. In addition, we plan to reduce emissions resulting from the use of hydrocarbons by applying CCS and low-carbon hydrogen technologies, potentially building up a business abating 20-30 million tonnes of CO2 per annum by 2040. You can find more about this in our Sustainability Report.

Wintershall Dea was formed from the merger of Wintershall Holding GmbH and DEA Deutsche Erdoel AG, in 2019. Today, the company employs around 2,500 people worldwide from almost 60 nations

About Petoro

Petoro is a state-owned limited company which manages the SDFI in the Norwegian oil and gas sector. These holdings comprise a third of Norway’s oil and gas reserves and associated facilities.