Equinor spearheads output drive

摘要

State-controlled Equinor is leading Norway’s drive to boost oil and gas output with a Barents Sea discovery just as its giant Johan Sverdrup project in the North Sea nears start-up. Equinor made a light oil discovery in the Sputnik exploration well it operates - 30km from the Wisting project in the Norwegian Barents Sea that it has also agreed to operate. The frm and its partners - state-controlled Petoro and Austria’s OMV - estimate recoverable resources at Sputnik of about 20mn-65mn bl. It is the only successful exploration well of four that Equinor has drilled in the Barents Sea this year, with one more left to drill in the region in 2019. The Sputnik partners will assess the discovery with other nearby fnds and prospects for “potential further follow-up”, the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) says.