Equinor has successfully drilled a pilot well at the Arkenstone gas exploration prospect offshore Norway. The purpose of this operation was to identify a safe drilling path to avoid a shallow-gas interval, encountered at approximately 400 meters depth, which had previously caused the suspension of the original well for safety reasons in January of the prior year.

Operational Details and Partnership

The pilot well was drilled over about three days by the semi-submersible rig COSL Innovator. While the main drilling operation is not scheduled for the current year, the pilot confirmed a viable location to drill past the shallow gas hazard. The prospect is located in Block PL 1014, with Equinor holding a 70% operator interest, OKEA 20%, and Aker BP 10%.

Prospect Significance and Potential

Arkenstone is characterized as a high-risk, high-reward frontier wildcat in the Norwegian Sea. According to Aker BP, its pre-drill resource potential is estimated between 60 million and 300 million barrels of oil equivalent. OKEA has described it as a strategically important "company maker" prospect, notable for being situated far from existing infrastructure.