Equinor has made what it claims to be a commercially viable gas discovery near the Gina Krog oil and gas field in the Norwegian North Sea.

The discovery has been made following the drilling of a development well.

The well has been drilled using the Noble Lloyd Noble rig. It is scheduled to start production in the fourth quarter of 2023.

As per the estimates, the discovery holds recoverable volumes of between five and 16 million barrels of oil equivalent.

The gas discovery, although it is small, could begin production as early as 2023, Equinor said.

Equinor is the operator of the well with a 58.7% stake, while other partners include Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Company (KUFPEC) Norway (30%) and PGNiG Upstream Norway (11.3%).

The discovery is commercially viable as it can utilise existing infrastructure near the Gina Krog platform, Equinor stated.

The company began preparations on the Gina Krog platform to enable production to start from the new well.

Equinor senior vice-president for field life extension Camilla Salthe said: "The discovery will help extend the lifetime and strengthen the profitability of Gina Krog and is important for the entire Sleipner area.

“It will quickly bring new gas to Europe with good profitability and low CO₂ emissions from production. Gina Krog is already electrified and has spare capacity. This shows how important it is to explore in mature areas on the Norwegian Continental Shelf.”

Recently, the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) said that Equinor and its partners made an oil and gas discovery in exploration well 30/6-C-2 A, named Lambda, in the Norwegian North Sea.

The exploration well is located in production licence 053, around 4km west of the Oseberg oil field in the northern part of the North Sea.