Norway’s Equinor Turns on New Oil Field in the Barents Sea: Johan Castberg Now Producing 220,000 Bbls Per Day with Hopes to Expand Field to Near 1 Billion Barrels

     A new field in the Barents Sea, operated with Norway’s Equinor(46.3%), along with partners Var Energi (30%) and Petoro (23.7%), just began producing operations at 220,000 Bbls per day.  

     According to the New Voice of Ukraine:

“This is a milestone for the petroleum industry in the Barents Sea,” Aasland said in his speech after the opening.

“With Castberg on stream, the Barents Sea now has both our second largest producing oil field, our second largest gas field and the largest discovery being considered for development. In addition, the Castberg field is a good example of the positive ripple effects that production offshore has on the mainland. With Castberg, there are three producing fields in the Barents Sea. This provides secure jobs in the local business community and a basis for new assignments over a long period of time.”

     Drilling continues, and it is expected that through 2026, there will be 30 wells drilled in the field. The latest drilled well, 7220/7-CD-1H, Drivis Tubaen, discovered an estimated 9-15 million barrels of oil. They plan to drill six new IOR (increased oil recovery) wells and continuously explore for more reserves. They also plan to develop Isflak as a rapid field expansion with a planned start-up in 2028. The oil was encountered in the Tubaen formation 1769m below the seabed in 345m of water. They may tie this field together with the Johan Castberg field.

     According to Equinor, the Barents Sea will now be developed and further explored:

“The Barents Sea is the least explored ocean area on the Norwegian continental shelf. With the Johan Castberg's production facilities in place, it becomes more attractive to explore the neighbouring areas. Going forward, two rigs will drill both production wells and new exploration wells in the areas around Johan Castberg and Goliat. Equinor will drill one to two exploration wells annually around Johan Castberg.”

     Below is a log section showing the Upper Triassic Tubaen Formation, which consists of sandstone with interbedded shales.

“The sandstones of the Tubaen Formation are thought to represent stacked series of fluviodeltaic deposits (tidal inlet and/or estuarine). Marine shales reflect more distal environments to the northwest, while coals in the southeast were deposited in protected backbarrier lagoonal environments.”

     Below is another log section zoom-in of the Tubaen Formation, a structure map on the top of the Tubaen, and an isopach map of the Tubaen. Below that is a map of field development from 2022, followed by a seismic line that shows gas-oil contacts (GOC) and oil-water contacts (OWC) in the different fault blocks. The wells are targeting the horst (upthrown) blocks. Each has different OWCs and GOCs.

     Early exploration in the Barents Sea was unsuccessful. Now that they have production and good geologic modeling, the field should be able to be expanded.

   

References:

 

Norway opens Johan Castberg, northernmost oil field. Богуслав Романенко. New Voice of Ukraine. August 11, 2025. Norway opens Johan Castberg, northernmost oil field

Oil discovery in the Johan Castberg area in the Barents Sea. June 30, 2025. Equinor. Oil discovery in the Johan Castberg area in the Barents Sea - Equinor

The Kapp Toscana Group - Realgrunnen Subgroup, in Geology of the Barents Sea. Norwegian Offshore Directorate. The Kapp Toscana Group - Realgrunnen Subgroup - The Norwegian Offshore Directorate

Adding barrels to Johan Castberg. Henk Kombrink. GeoExPro. April 27, 2022. Adding barrels to Johan Castberg - GeoExpro

Equinor hits oil in Barents Sea. Henk Kombrink. GeoExPro. March 12, 2021. Equinor hits oil in Barents Sea - GeoExpro