Norway's Equinor makes new gas, condensate discovery in Norwegian Sea

Norway's Equinor -- together with partners Okea and Pandion Energy -- has made a gas and condensate discovery with the Mistral Sor exploration well in the southern part of the Norwegian Sea, it said March 5.

In a statement, Equinor said that preliminary estimates indicated the discovery contained 19-44 million recoverable barrels of oil equivalent (3-7 Bcm).

It said the licensees' assessment was that it is a commercial discovery, with the partners now set to consider a tieback to existing infrastructure or development together with other discoveries in the area.

"Norwegian gas is in high demand and is crucial to Europe's energy security," Grete Haaland, Equinor's senior vice president for exploration and production north, said.

"That's why it's important for us to continue exploring and making new discoveries so we can maintain a high level of deliveries," Haaland said.

"This discovery was made in an area where gas infrastructure is already in place, and which we're also continuing to develop. We have active exploration efforts underway in this area," she said.

The find was made in the Asgard and Kristin area in the Norwegian Sea, and is situated a short distance north of Linnorm, the largest gas discovery on the Norwegian Continental Shelf that has yet to be developed.

Equinor took over the operatorship for Linnorm in 2023. A discovery was also made in 2024 in the Lavrans field which is currently being developed with a tieback to the Kristin Sor field.

The Mistral Sor license was awarded in Norway's 2020 mature area licensing round.

Equinor is operator with a 50% stake, while Okea has 30% and Pandion Energy 20%.

European supply

Norway is the single biggest supply source of gas to the European market after Russian deliveries were sharply curtailed through 2022.

Norwegian operators maximized production and European exports to help offset lost Russian volumes and to make the most of high prices, which hit record highs in the summer 2022.

Producers continue to look to ensure high output levels given the ongoing strength in European gas prices. Platts, part of Commodity Insights, assessed the TTF month-ahead price on March 4 at Eur43.46/MWh.

Equinor is the largest gas producer in the country, with CFO Torgrim Reitan saying Feb. 5 the company was able to benefit from European price volatility given its access to all the major European gas hubs.

He said Equinor's gas sales portfolio was based on 70% day-ahead and 30% month-ahead. "That is important because that means when there is volatility, when there are price spikes, we will take advantage of it," Reitan said.

Total Norwegian gas production reached a record high of 124 Bcm in 2024, the Norwegian Offshore Directorate said on Jan. 9, surpassing the previous record level from 2022.

In its annual outlook, the NOD said production was expected to remain at a stable level before a gradual decrease toward the end of the 2020s. Gas production is set to drop to 110.8 Bcm in 2029, it said.