BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 18. Equinor has made an oil discovery in the Barents Sea that will be tied into its existing Johan Castberg field, the company said, Trend reports.
The discovery was made in the “Polynya Tubåen” prospect (7220/7‑5) using the COSL Prospector drilling rig. Preliminary estimates indicate recoverable volumes of 14–24 million barrels of oil equivalents.
“With Johan Castberg, we opened a new oil province in the Barents Sea one year ago. It is encouraging that we are now making new discoveries in the area. We plan to drill one to two exploration wells annually here to expand the resource base and maintain plateau production for a longer period,” said Grete Birgitte Haaland, Equinor’s area director for Exploration and Production North.
The Johan Castberg field, located about 220 kilometres northwest of Hammerfest, originally held an estimated 500–700 million barrels of recoverable oil equivalents. Equinor aims to increase this by another 200–500 million barrels.
The region has seen recent discoveries, including the Drivis Tubåen prospect in June 2025, estimated at 13–20 million barrels. Last week, construction began on the Isflak development, the first discovery to be tied into Johan Castberg. Aker Solutions in Sandnessjøen is building a well frame for two new wells that will connect to existing subsea facilities.
Partners in Johan Castberg are Equinor (46.3%, operator), Vår Energi ASA (30%) and Petoro AS (23.7%). The field’s first discovery was made in 2011, and production began on March 31, 2025.