Equinor Strikes Oil and Gas Near Troll Field in North Sea

Equinor (NYSE: EQNR) and its partners have announced a new oil and gas discovery in the Fram area, about nine kilometers north of the giant Troll field in the North Sea.

The exploration well 35/11-31 S encountered petroleum in two reservoirs, with one holding both oil and gas and the other containing only gas. Recoverable resources are estimated between 0.1 and 1.1 million standard cubic meters of oil equivalent. Reservoir quality ranges from moderate to very good. The discovery has been provisionally named F-South.

“This is an exciting area with well-developed infrastructure. In recent years, we have made several discoveries nearby, and we plan to keep exploring further,” said Geir Sørtveit, Equinor’s senior vice president for Exploration & Production West.

Equinor holds a 45% stake in production license 090, alongside Vår Energi ASA (40%) and INPEX Idemitsu Norge AS (15%). The exploration well was drilled by COSL Innovator.

The partners are considering a tie-back solution to existing or future infrastructure, which could accelerate development given the proximity to the Troll and Fram hubs.

Since 2019, Equinor and partners have made a string of discoveries in the Fram area, including Echino South, Swisher, Røver North, Blasto, Toppand, Kveikje, Røver South, Heisenberg, Crino/Mulder, Rhombi, and Ringand. Notably, Echino South and Blasto, together with smaller finds, underpin the planned Fram South subsea development, for which a plan for development and operation (PDO) was submitted to Norwegian authorities in June.

The continued exploration success reinforces the North Sea’s role as a mature but still productive basin, where existing infrastructure provides cost and emissions advantages for incremental tie-back projects.

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