March 23, 2026 [Storage Terminals Magazine]- Equinor has made an oil discovery that will be tied into the Johan Castberg field in the Barents Sea.

The discovery was made in the “Polynya Tubåen” prospect (7220/7-5), with the well drilled by the COSL Prospector rig. The preliminary volume estimate is between 14 and 24 million barrels of recoverable oil equivalents.

Grete Birgitte Haaland, area director for Exploration and Production North at Equinor, noted that Johan Castberg opened a new oil province in the Barents Sea one year ago and described it as encouraging that new discoveries are now being made in the area. She added that Equinor plans to drill one to two exploration wells annually in the region going forward, with the aim of increasing the resource base and maintaining plateau production for a longer period.

The volume basis in Johan Castberg was originally estimated at 500–700 million barrels, and Equinor holds an ambition to increase this by an additional 200–500 million barrels.

In June 2025, a separate oil discovery named “Drivis Tubåen” was made in the Castberg area, with an estimated volume of 13–20 million barrels in the Drivis structure.

The previous week also marked the start of construction for the development of Isflak, the first discovery to be tied into Johan Castberg. Aker Solutions in Sandnessjøen is building a well frame for two new wells that will be connected to existing subsea facilities.