Vår Energi’s most recent oil discovery of between 15 and 43 million BOE near the Goliat field could be fast-tracked for development.
The operator announced the discovery of oil at its operated Zagato exploration well in the Barents Sea on 27 February. The discovery in 410 m water depth is the company’s third consecutive oil find in its operated Goliat area.
When combined with the Countach discoveries from 2024, Vår said the high case for total gross estimated recoverable resources is about 100 million BOE. In the Goliat ridge, estimated gross discovered and prospective recoverable resources have increased to more than 200 million BOE, the operator said.
“Close proximity to existing infrastructure provides opportunity for a fast-track, low-emission, cost-efficient development utilizing available capacity at the Goliat FPSO,” Vår Energi Chief Operating Officer Torger Rød said in a news release. “With additional wells being drilled this year, we see an opportunity to unlock significant additional resources as tieback projects to Goliat.”
Vår said all three wells drilled so far on the Goliat ridge–Countach, Countach appraisal and Zagato–have identified hydrocarbons in separate fault blocks, which de-risks prospectivity in the undrilled areas. The Goliat ridge comprises of a series of adjacent fault-bounded prospects next to the Goliat field.
Zagato is 8 km northeast of the Goliat FPSO, and Vår said the good-quality reservoirs found in the exploration wells are similar to those in the producing Goliat field.
The operator said new 3D and 4D seismic surveys will be acquired over the area during summer 2025 to complete the remaining potential delineation and accelerate progress to development studies.
Once the COSL Prospector finishes operations at Zagato, it will drill infill wells at the Goliat field, including Well 7122/7-8, Goliat Nord, before returning to the ridge area later in the year. In the third quarter of 2025, Vår plans to begin drilling two more exploration or appraisal wells.
According to the Norwegian Offshore Directorate (NOD), the Zagato wildcat well, 7122/8-3 S, is the 11th in Production License 229, which was awarded in 1997.
The well’s primary exploration target was to prove petroleum in Middle Triassic reservoir rocks in the Kobbe formation. The well’s secondary exploration target was to prove petroleum in Middle/Lower Jurassic reservoir rocks in the Realgrunnen subgroup, the NOD said.
In the primary exploration target, Well 7122/8-3 S encountered oil columns totaling 72 m in the Kobbe formation, distributed over three reservoir zones. The reservoir quality varies from good in the upper part to moderate in the lower part, and the oil/water contact was not encountered, according to NOD.
In the secondary exploration target, the well encountered a 3-m oil column in the Tubåen formation, with a total thickness of 20 m and very good reservoir quality, NOD said. The oil/water contact was encountered at 1427 m below sea level. Additionally, a 2-m oil column was proven in the Klappmyss formation in a sandstone layer with moderate reservoir quality.
While the well was not formation-tested, extensive data acquisition and sampling were carried out, according to NOD.
The well was drilled to a vertical depth of 2542 m below sea level, terminated in the Klappmyss formation in the Lower Triassic, and has been temporarily plugged and abandoned.
Vår operates both the Zagato and Goliat fields with 65% interest on behalf of partner Equinor with 35% interest.
