Var hits pay in Barents Sea

Norway

OSLO, January 3, 2019 – Norway’s Var Energi has struck hydrocarbons in the Goliat licence in the Barents Sea, the company announced on Thursday.

Appraisal well 7122/7-7 S in PL 229 encountered up to 13.8 million boe, Var said in a statement.

“Goliat is the first infrastructure for oil production in the Barents Sea and is of strategic importance for further development of the region,” CEO Kristin Kragseth said. “The history of the Norwegian continental shelf demonstrates that development of smaller discoveries are progressed once infrastructure is in place.”

The news came as Equinor hired Aibel on a USD 23-million contract to provide EPC works at the Johan Sverdrup field in the Norwegian sector of the nearby North Sea, and also as Premier Oil contracted Ensco for an unspecified amount to drill several wells in the UK sector of the North Sea.