January 30, 2026.
NCS Exploration Drilling Updates – Jan. 30, 2026. Currently, a total of five (5) exploration wells are being drilled on the NCS👏. Details..⤵️
➡️ Active Wells –
– Well 35/11-32 S: Wildcat well by Equinor in the Northern North Sea – Lomre Terrace area (PL 090 HS). Spud date – Jan. 26 by COSL Innovator rig. Prospect name – “Byrding C-Barde”. Likely targets – Late Jurassic / Paleocene reservoirs. Partner – Inpex-Idemitsu Norge AS 👏
– Well 34/4-19 S: Wildcat well by Equinor in the Northern North Sea – Tampen Spur area (PL 057). Spud date – Jan. 23 by Deepsea Atlantic rig. Prospect name – “Omega South”. Prospect is located in the fault terrace just outside the Snorre fault block. Likely targets – Triassic reservoirs / (Late Jurassic?). Partners – Petoro, Harbour Energy Norge, Inpex-Idemitsu Norge AS, Vår Energi 👏
– Well 7018/5-2 S: Wildcat well by Equinor in the Barents Sea (PL 1236). Spud date – Jan. 1 by COSL Prospector rig. Located next to the Troms-Finnmark Fault Complex (TFFC), prospect will test a fault-bounded Horst structure. Prospect name – “Vikingskipet”. Likely targets -Late Triassic Snadd Formation / Jurassic Stø Formation reservoirs. Partners – Vår Energi AS, Petoro 👏
– Well 34/8-A-37 H: Wildcat well by Equinor in the Northern North Sea – Tampen Spur area (PL 120). Spud date – Jan. 17 by Visund rig. Likely targets – Triassic reservoirs / (Lower Jurassic?). Partners – Petoro, ConocoPhillips Norge, Repsol Norge AS 👏
– Well 25/8-C-23 D: Ongoing wildcat well by Vår Energi in the North Sea (PL-027). Spud date – Dec. 7 by Ringhorne rig. Prospect name – Prince Updip. Likely targets: Jurassic reservoirs. Partner – Kistos Energy Norge AS 👏
➡️ Drilling Results –
– Well 15/8-3 S: Equinor has concluded the drilling of “Sissel” prospect in the North Sea (PL 1137), resulting in a gas / condensate discovery in Middle Jurassic reservoirs. Partner – ORLEN Upstream Norway 👏… 👉Click for more details.
– Well 6507/8-12 S: Equinor has concluded the drilling of “Othello South” prospect in the Norwegian Sea (PL-124 B), resulting in oil discovery in Early Jurassic reservoirs. Partners- Petoro, ConocoPhillips Norge, Vår Energi👏…. 👉Click for more details.
– Well 7122/8-3 A: Vår Energi has concluded the appraisal well for Zagato discovery in the Barents Sea (PL-229). The well confirmed the discovery and indicate that Zagato could be as big as 75 mmboe👏… 👉Click for more details.
➡️ Highlights –
– Strong start for 2026 on the NCS with two new discoveries (Sissel and Othello South)👏
– Best exploration year in several years!👏 ..that was how 2025 was described in “The Shelf” report by the Norwegian Offshore Directorate👏
– Another successful APA licensing round. A total of 19 companies were awarded 57 exploration licences for APA 2025👏
– Some of the upcoming wells to look forward to in 2026 – Norma Appraisal, Arkenstone (wildcat), and Carmen Appraisal,.. just to name a few👏
➡️ As always, contact me for more details – highgraded play areas, prospect reviews, identified lead opportunities, farm-ins, and well predictions👏… I’m also available for exploration projects to help fulfil your workprogram commitments – consulting@ytfexploration.com👏
Click image links below to view other images. ⤵️
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Tags: #NCS #Exploration #Wildcats
Featured Image: COSL Innovator Rig. (source – COSL).
