Equinor makes 'material' light oil discovery in Norwegian Sea

Equinor has made a material oil discovery near it Asgard field in the Norwegian Sea with up to 63 million barrels of recoverable resources, the company's block partner said Oct. 25.

The Egyptian Vulture well discovered up to 440 million barrels of in-place oil, or some 19 million to 63 million barrels of recoverable resources, London-listed explorer Longboat Energy said in a statement.

Drilled 20 km from Equinor's Asgard field and 23 km from the Kristin field, the find is close to existing infrastructure and export opportunities both for oil and gas.

Longboat said it has used conservative recovery factors to calculate preliminary resource estimates, adding that further drilling "could significantly increase the resource estimate for this laterally extensive discovery."

"The large areal extent and oil-in-place volume range demonstrates the very significant upside potential of this exciting discovery," CEO Helge Hammer said in a statement. "We now look forward to working with the operator to mature the forward appraisal plan for Egyptian Vulture."

Longboat holds a 15% equity stake in the PL939 discovery block, which marked its second well in a seven-well drilling program. Equinor operates the block with a 55% stake and is also partnered by PGNiG (30%). The third well in the program is scheduled for the Aker BP-operated Mugnetind prospect in the Southern North Sea.