**Updated on October 29, 2025 – NCS Exploration Drilling Updates – Oct. 27, 2025👏 Since my last update, 4 new wells have started drilling and 3 wells have concluded drilling. Currently, a total of seven (7) exploration wells are being drilled on the NCS👏. Details..⤵️
➡️ Active Wells –
– Well 7122/7-8: Wildcat well by Vår Energi in the Barents Sea.- Goliat ridge area (PL-229). Spud date – Feb. 26 by COSL Prospector rig. Prospect name – “Goliat Nord”. Likely targets: Middle-Late Triassic and Early Jurassic reservoirs. Partner – Equinor👏
– Well 35/8-8 S: Wildcat well by Harbour Energy Norge AS in the Northern North Sea – Sogn Graben (PL 248 LS). Spud date- Oct. 11 by Transocean Norge. Prospect name – “Camilla Nord”. Likely targets – Late Jurassic Heather Formation / Early Jurassic Cook FM, Statfjord FM reservoirs. Partner – Petoro AS👏
– Well 15/5-8 A: Wildcat well by Equinor in the North Sea (PL 1140). Spud date- Oct. 1 by Deepsea Atlantic. Prospect name – “Lofn/Langemann”. Likely targets – Late Jurassic / Middle Jurassic reservoirs. Partner – AkerBP👏
– Well 30/11-16 S: Wildcat well by AkerBP in the North Sea (PL 873). Initial spud date- April 30 by Deepsea Stavanger rig. Prospect name – “Natrudstilen”. Likely targets – Paleocene / Eocene reservoirs. This prospect is located to the northeast of the recent Omega/Alfa discoveries by AkerBP. Partners – Equinor and Orlen👏
– Well 34/6-9 S: Ongoing wildcat well by Equinor in the Northern North Sea (PL 554). Spud date- Sept 17 by COSL Innovator rig. Prospect name – “Avbitertang”. Likely target – Jurassic reservoirs. Partner – VårEnergi, AkerBP👏
– Well 6407/1-B-2 H: Ongoing wildcat well by Equinor in the Norwegian Sea (PL 1121). Spud date- 16 Sept by Transocean Encourage rig. Prospect name – “Tyrihans Øst”. Likely targets – Middle Jurassic / Early Jurassic reservoirs. Partners- Vår Energi, DNO Norge. **Well sits in the Middle Jurassic play fairway, with several Garn Formation discoveries.👏
– Well 2/6-8 S: Ongoing wildcat well by DNO Norge AS in the Central Graben – Sogne Basin (PL 1086). The wildcat well (“Page” prospect) is located south of the recent “Othello” discovery. Spud date – Sept 1 by Noble Intrepid rig. Likely targets – Creataceous and Paleocene reservoirs. Upper Jurassic target may also be possible. Partners – Petoro AkerBP Source Energy. Read my blog post on this well – Central Graben Shallow Target Plays 👏
➡️ Drilling Results –
– Well 7122/8-4 S: Appraisal well by Vår Energi to delineate the recent Zagato discovery in the Barents Sea (PL-229). Spud date – Sept 28 by COSL Prospector rig. Prospect name – “Zagato appraisal”. Targets – Middle Triassic Kobbe Formation and Early Jurassic Tubåen Formation reservoirs. Partner – Equinor👏 **Drilling concluded on October 25.
– Well 15/5-8 S: Equinor has concluded drilling for the first of the two wildcats in PL 1140 in the North Sea. Prospect name – “Lofn/Langemann”. Eagerly awaiting results from the well 👏
– Well 31/4-A-15 C: OKEA has concluded the drilling of the appraisal for discovery well 34/4-A-15 B in the North Sea (PL 055)👏
➡️ Summary / Comments:
– It’s great to see AkerBP making a string of operated discovery wells this year after a season of draught and lack of success in operated exploration wells👏…hopefully, “Natrudstilen” prospect can be added to that string of operated exploration discoveries🤞
– It’s great to see Vår Energi back in the Barents Sea, drilling an appraisal for Zagato discovery, while seeking to prove-up additional volumes around the Goliat ridge area (drilling has resumed for Goliat Nord prospect)👏 VårEnergi’s 2025 exploration drilling has been “a tale of two prospective, hydrocarbon-filled ridges”👏.. – Vidsyn ridge in the Norwegian Sea (Vidsyn discovery) and the Goliat-Countach trend in the Barents Sea (Zagato discovery, and Goliat Nord prospect?)👏 ..Although the Goliat-Countach trend is structurally complex / segmented, the sealing faults at the play-level have done an excellent job of keeping the trapped hydrocarbons in place…and it’s great to see hydrocarbon accumulations being proven in various segments across the ridge👏
➡️ Finally – It’s good to see more shallow plays being selected for drilling on the NCS this year…something that I predicted last year after the NCS Exploration Strategy conference (see link below). Admittedly, over the past decade, significantly large hydrocarbon volumes have been contributed by deeper plays (i.e. Jurassic), but there is still a huge potential for making significant (commercial) discoveries in shallow target plays. Shallow plays (Cretaceous, Paleocene, Eocene) hold significant, Yet-To-Find resources on the NCS👏
➡️ Contact me for highgraded play areas, prospect reviews, identified leads, farm-ins, and well predictions👏… I’m also available for exploration projects to help fulfil your workprogram commitments – consulting@ytfexploration.com👏
Link to my comments on shallow target plays after the 2024 NCS Exploration Strategy conference – LinkedIn post
Latest Updates –
Tags – #NCS #Exploration #Drilling #Prospect
Featured Image: Deepsea Stavanger Rig …; Source – Odfjell Drilling.
