Neptune Energy welcomed the announcement from its partner, Equinor, on the successful oil and gas discovery near the Fram field in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea.

Neptune holds a 15 per cent share in the discovery, which is situated within the Equinor-operated Fram licence area.

Neptune Energy’s Managing Director in Norway and the UK, Odin Estensen, said: “We congratulate Equinor for their safe and successful drilling operation, which again proves the potential in the highly prolific Fram area. Its close proximity to existing infrastructure provides potential opportunities for for a low emission, cost-efficient development.”

Preliminary estimates of the size of the discovery are between 1.5 and 5.5 million standard cubic metres (Sm3) of recoverable oil equivalents, or about 9 – 35 million barrels of oil equivalent (mboe). The licensees consider the discovery to be commercially viable and will consider the potential tie-in to other recent discoveries in the area, via existing infrastructure.

The wells were drilled by the Deepsea Stavanger drilling facility, and extensive data acquisition and sampling has been carried out.

Water depth at the site is 356 metres.

About Neptune Energy Norge AS

Neptune Energy Norge is a subsidiary of Neptune Energy. The company is the operator of three producing fields: Gjøa and Duva the North Sea, and Fenja in the Norwegian Sea. It is also a partner in several fields, amongst these are Snøhvit, Gudrun, Njord and Fram. Neptune Energy Norge is a participant in over 80 licences. For the full year 2022, Neptune produced 58 kboepd in Norway.

About Neptune Energy Group

Neptune Energy is an independent global E&P company with operations across Europe, North Africa and Asia Pacific. The business had production of 135,000 net barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2022 and 2P reserves at 31st December 2022 of 552 million barrels of oil equivalent. Neptune aims to store more carbon than is emitted from its operations and the use of its sold products by 2030. The Company, founded by Sam Laidlaw, is backed by CIC and funds advised by Carlyle Group and CVC Capital Partners.

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.