Norwegian State Oil Company Makes New Oil Discovery Around Johan Castberg Oil Field

Equinor, Norway’s national oil company, has made an oil discovery in the Barents Sea that will tie into the Johan Castberg oil field.

The discovery is located in the “Polynya Tubåen” exploration target (well 7220/7-5) and was drilled by the COSL Prospector drilling rig. Initial estimates put recoverable oil reserves at between 14 million and 24 million barrels of oil equivalent.

Grett Biggert Høland, Exploration and Production North Regional Director at Equinor, said: “A year ago, with the start-up of Johan Castberg, we opened a new oil province in the Barents Sea. Now it is encouraging to obtain a new discovery in the area. We plan to drill one to two exploration wells in the area each year going forward, to grow the resource base and extend the period of steady production.”

The initial estimate of Johan Castberg’s reserves is between 500 million and 700 million barrels, and Equinor’s target is to increase that by a further 200 million to 500 million barrels.

In June 2025, the Castberg area previously received an oil discovery called “Drivis Tubåen,” with estimated reserves in the Drivis structure of between 13 million and 20 million barrels.

Last week, development and construction of the first discovery to tie into Johan Castberg—Isflak—was launched. Aker Solutions, based in Sannescheen, is building a rig for a well pad containing two new wells, which will connect to existing subsea facilities.

The Johan Castberg oil field is located in the Barents Sea, 220 kilometers northwest of Hammerfest.

Partners in the Johan Castberg oil field include: Equinor Energy AS (operator, 46.3% interest), Vår Energi ASA (30% interest), and Petoro AS (23.7% interest).

The first discovery of the Johan Castberg oil field was made in 2011.

The field began production on March 31, 2025.

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