Equinor has announced a discovery of oil in the “Polynya Tubåen” prospect (7220/7-5) in the Barents Sea in Norway with a preliminary volume estimate going between 14 and 24 mboe (Equinor press release, 18/03/2026). The well was drilled by the COSL Prospector rig, in the Johan Castberg area originally estimated to have about 500-700 mbl and where Equinor aimed to increase the reserves by an additional 200-500 mbl.
According to the area director for Exploration and Production North at Equinor, the company plans to “drill one to two exploration wells annually” in the region to “increase the resource base and maintain plateau production for a longer period”.
At the end of 2024, Norway had a total of 94 fields in production: 69 in the North Sea, 23 in the Norwegian Sea, and 2 in the Barents Sea. The country’s largest oil fields in terms of remaining reserves are Johan Sverdrup (232 mbl of remaining reserves) and Snøhvit (154 mbl). Two new fields started production in 2024 (Tyrving and Hanz) and two others (Halten Øst and Johan Castberg) in 2025 (Enerdata Global Energy Research).
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