Equinor Finds 14–24Mboe at Polynya Tubåen, Boosting Johan Castberg Reserves
Equinor discovered 14–24 million barrels of oil equivalent at the Polynya Tubåen prospect in the Barents Sea, roughly 16km southwest of Johan Castberg. The discovery will tie into Johan Castberg’s existing FPSO infrastructure and supports plans to expand the field’s resource base by 200–500 million barrels.
1. Discovery Details
Equinor announced a new oil discovery at the Polynya Tubåen prospect with estimated recoverable reserves of 14–24 million barrels of oil equivalent (mboe). The COSL Prospector rig drilled the wildcat well 7220/7-5 to intersect hydrocarbons in the Tubåen Formation.
2. Location and Geology
The well lies in production licence 532, about 16km southwest of the Johan Castberg discovery well and 210km northwest of Hammerfest. It encountered a 26m gas column over a 26m oil column within a 125m-thick Tubåen Formation, including 39m of good to very good reservoir-quality rock.
3. Infrastructure Tie-in Plans
Equinor will connect the discovery to the existing Johan Castberg FPSO and subsea templates, leveraging current production, storage and offloading infrastructure. Aker Solutions is building facilities for two additional wells to integrate with the field’s subsea installations.
4. Strategic Outlook
This find follows the 13–20 million barrel Drivis discovery in June 2025 and aligns with Equinor’s goal to boost Johan Castberg’s resource base by 200–500 million barrels beyond its original 500–700 million barrel estimate. The company plans to drill one to two exploration wells annually in the Barents Sea region.