Equinor and partners Okea and Pandion Energy have announced the discovery of gas and condensate in the Mistral Sør exploration well in the Halten area of the Norwegian Sea.
This discovery is located in the Åsgard and Kristin area of the southern Norwegian Sea.
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Preliminary estimates suggest the discovery contains three to seven million standard cubic metres (mscm) of recoverable oil equivalent, which translates to 19–44 million barrels.
The discovery is deemed commercially viable and may be tied back to existing infrastructure or developed alongside other nearby discoveries.
Mistral Sør is located near Linnorm, the largest undeveloped gas discovery on the Norwegian Continental Shelf.
Equinor assumed operatorship of Linnorm in 2023.
Equinor Exploration & Production North senior vice-president Grete B. Haaland said: “Norwegian gas is in high demand and is crucial to Europe’s energy security. That is why it is important for us to continue exploring and making new discoveries so we can maintain a high level of deliveries.
“This discovery was made in an area where gas infrastructure is already in place, and which we are also continuing to develop. We have active exploration efforts under way in this area, which have resulted in several discoveries in recent years.”
A discovery was also made in 2024 in the Lavrans field, which is being developed with a tie-back to the Kristin Sør field.
Drilled by the Deepsea Atlantic rig in production licence 1119, Mistral Sør aimed to prove the presence of petroleum in Middle Jurassic sandstone in the Garn Formation, with a secondary target in the Ile Formation.
A 45m hydrocarbon column in the Garn Formation was encountered by well 6406/6-7 S, exhibiting good reservoir properties.
The well reached a vertical depth of 4,024m below sea level, terminating in the Ror Formation of the Lower Jurassic. Water depth at the drilling site is 256m.
Extensive data acquisition and sampling were conducted, and the well will be permanently plugged.
The secondary exploration target did not yield hydrocarbons and the Deepsea Atlantic rig will now move to commence drilling at 15/8-G-4 Utgard.
