The wildcat well 7122/8-1S, which made the discovery, was drilled by the Transocean Enabler drilling facility, nearly 13km northeast of the Goliat field and 90km northwest of Hammerfest

Goliat FPSO

The Countach discovery could be tied back to the Goliat FPSO. (Credit: Marthe Nyvoll / Vår Energi)

Vår Energi has made an oil discovery near the company-operated Goliat field in the Barents Sea following the drilling of the Countach prospect in the Norwegian production licence 229.

The wildcat well 7122/8-1S was drilled by the Transocean Enabler drilling facility, nearly 13km northeast of the Goliat field in the southern part of the Barents Sea and 90km northwest of Hammerfest.

It intersected a 13m oil column in the Realgrunnen Subgroup in sandstone layers totalling 29m having moderate to good reservoir quality.

The oil/water contact was made at 1,650m below sea level.

Vår Energi stated that the size of the discovery is 0.5-2.1 million Sm3 or 3-13 million barrels of total recoverable oil equivalents as per preliminary estimates.

The Norwegian oil and gas company estimates the potential of the Countach prospect, in the undrilled segments, at up to 3.7 million Sm3 or 23 million barrels of total recoverable oil equivalents.

Vår Energi said that the 7122/8-1S well will now be plugged permanently and abandoned with plans to assess the drilling of an appraisal well in the future.

The company is the operator of PL229 with a stake of 65%. Its partner in the offshore block is Equinor, which holds the remaining stake of 35%.

Vår Energi exploration and production EVP Rune Oldervoll said that the company will consider the possible commercial development options and tie-in of the Countach discovery to the Goliat floating production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) facility.

The Goliat field has been producing since 2016.

Oldervoll said: “Countach reinforces the company’s position as the leading exploration company on the Norwegian shelf. This discovery is yet another in a series of successful exploration wells in the Barents Sea in recent years, including Lupa – the largest discovery on the Norwegian shelf in 2022.

“At the same time, the discovery confirms our exploration strategy and our position in the area. We will consider potential.”