Equinor Drilled a Dry Well in the North Sea
Equinor and its partners drilled a dry well in the Skoll and Hati subsoil blocks east of the Visund field in the North Sea off the coast of Norway.
This was reported by the Norwegian Offshore Directorate (NOD).
Exploration well 34/8-A-37 H was drilled under licence PL120, located 140 kilometres west of the town of Florø and 4 kilometres east of the Visund A offshore platform. Equinor is the operator of PL120 with a 53.2% stake, and its partners are Repsol (7.7%), ConocoPhillips (9.1%), and Petoro (30%).
Details of the dry well drilling
Well 34/8-A-37 H was drilled to a vertical depth of 3,081 metres and a measured depth of 6,662 metres below sea level. Drilling was completed in the Lunde formation of Upper Triassic age.
The licensees planned to explore hydrocarbon accumulations in reservoir rocks of the Statfjord Group of Lower Jurassic age, as well as in the Lunde formation of Upper Triassic age. The water depth in the area was 335 metres.
The well reached the Statfjord Group at a depth of about 112 metres, of which 53 metres had good reservoir properties. The sandstone layers were water-bearing with indications of hydrocarbons.
34/8-A-37 H also reached the Lunde formation at a depth of 150 metres, of which 50 metres consisted of sandstones with moderate to good reservoir properties. Indications of hydrocarbons were also observed here.
The well is classified as dry.
It should be recalled that Equinor intends to significantly intensify drilling activities on the continental shelf to counter declining production. Equinor Chief Executive Officer A. Opedal noted that combating natural field depletion requires one of the largest industrial plans in the history of Norway. He also acknowledged that the company had overestimated the pace of development of low-carbon technologies, including wind power and carbon capture projects.
The company’s plan provides for the drilling of up to 250 wells in the ageing oil-producing region over the next decade. The main objective is to maintain production levels at 2020 levels until 2035. Approximately 60 billion Norwegian kroner (equivalent to 5.9 billion United States dollars) will be allocated for these drilling programmes.
In February 2026, Equinor drilled exploration well 7018/5-2 in the Norwegian sector of the Barents Sea. The potential resources of the block were estimated at 190 million barrels of oil equivalent, but the well turned out to be dry.
