Equinor, Aker BP and Vår Energi launch NCS exploration alliance
Tue, August 25, 2026 at 2:03 PM GMT+3 3 min read
Equinor, Aker BP and Vår Energi have agreed to form a strategic collaboration focused on exploration activities on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS).
The initiative aims to identify major new discoveries that could lead to new stand-alone field developments and support long-term value in the region.
The companies will pool their expertise, data, technology and exploration resources in an effort to pursue selected high-impact prospects.
During the coming four to five years, the parties intend to assess and drill a portfolio of around 20–25 exploration targets, aiming to drill approximately five high-impact wells per year.
In recent years, exploration in Norway has largely concentrated on areas near existing infrastructure, with new resources typically developed as subsea tiebacks to operating fields.
While this activity remains important to maintain production from existing facilities, the three companies have underscored the need for larger discoveries to build resources for future stand-alone developments.
The joint effort is intended to reduce risk and leverage shared capabilities, enabling the companies to target more opportunities than would be possible individually.
The companies noted that new major finds could help sustain activity in Norway's supply industry and support energy supplies to Europe. They added that output from the region is forecast to fall after 2035 without additional discoveries.
Separately, Equinor, along with its partner Aker BP, has discovered new gas and condensate at the Linga prospect in production licence 782 S, around 16km north-west of the Balder field in the Norwegian North Sea.
The wildcat well, designated as 25/7-13, revealed between 100,000 and 2.1 million standard cubic metres of recoverable oil equivalent.
The licensees are currently assessing the results alongside previous wells in the area.
The wildcat well is the third to be drilled in production licence 782 S, which was awarded in 2015 (APA 2014).
Drilling was conducted using the COSL Innovator rig.
Exploration well 25/7-13 identified gas and condensate within distinct sandstone intervals in the Draupne Formation, which had a combined thickness of 13m and showed moderate reservoir characteristics.
The well reached a final vertical depth of 4,606m below sea level, ending in the Heather Formation, dated to the Late Jurassic period.
Drilled at a water depth of 126m, the well has now been permanently plugged and abandoned, according to the Norwegian Offshore Directorate.
In another development, Equinor has signed a 15-year natural gas sales agreement with Uniper. Under this agreement, more than 30TW-hours, or approximately 2.8 billion cubic metres, will be delivered annually to Germany from 1 January 2027 to 31 December 2041.
The gas will be supplied at Trading Hub Europe, the German market area.
Commercial terms of the agreement remain confidential.
"Equinor, Aker BP and Vår Energi launch NCS exploration alliance" was originally created and published by Offshore Technology, a GlobalData owned brand.
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