Norway-based oil firm, Equinor, has signed an agreement to acquire equity interest in five discoveries in the North Sea.
Acquiring interest in the Troll, Fram and Kvitebjørn area of the Norwegian North Sea from Wellesley Petroleum, a space where Equinor has made seven discoveries since 2019.
The transaction adds to Equinor’s equity share in the following discoveries: An additional 18.8% in Grosbeak, 45% in Toppand, 40% in Atlantis and 20% in Røver Nord and Røver Sør.
Equinor has already started field development projects to coordinate the development of these discoveries in collaboration with partners.
Troll and Fram, although a mature area in the Norwegian North Sea, has made a name for itself as an exploration hotspot in recent years.
Equinor has made a number of discoveries in this area of the North Sea, including Swisher, Toppand and Røver Nord and Sør.
Kjetil Hove, executive vice president for Exploration and Production Norway, said: “With this transaction, we strengthen our position in one of our core areas on the Norwegian continental shelf.
“These discoveries can be put into production with low costs and low CO2 emissions by being connected to the suitable infrastructure in the area. Discoveries close to infrastructure are important for our ambition to maintain production at current levels from the NCS beyond 2030.”
Last month Equinor announced a new oil and gas discovery near the Troll field.
Named the Røver Sør, the reservoir has an estimated reserve of between 17 and 47 million barrels of recoverable oil equivalent, of which the majority is oil.
The two exploration wells were drilled by the Transocean Spitsbergen rig.
Located in the Norwegian North Sea, the licence is owned by Equinor in collaboration with project partners DNO, Wellesley Petroleum and Petoro.