Equinor announced on October 8, 2026 a gas discovery in the Gullfaks Sør area of the Norwegian North Sea. According to the company, recoverable volumes are estimated at between 0.5 and 1.6 million Sm³ of oil equivalent, with Sm³ denoting a cubic meter at standard conditions. The range is a resource estimate attributed to the operator, not a quantity already produced. In the same segment, New Zealand has invested $20.3 million in two offshore gas projects.
An estimate expressed in oil equivalent
Oil equivalent expresses different categories of hydrocarbons on a common basis. The cubic meters of oil equivalent announced therefore do not directly denote a physical volume of gas. Equinor publishes a conversion of 3.3 to 10.3 million barrels of oil equivalent for the same estimate. The detailed method has not been published.
Gas supply is also a question elsewhere: Libya is studying the use of regasified LNG for its power plants. At Gullfaks Sør, the drilling took the form of a sidetrack, a deviation from an existing well. It was carried out by Askeladden while a production well was being drilled.
Drilling carried out from an existing asset
The well is identified as 34/10-D-4 BH and is located 190 kilometers northwest of Bergen, according to the Norwegian version of the press release. The exact date of the discovery is not specified, as the announcement date reflects the date of communication. The configuration places the discovery within the operations of an asset already in operation.
The economic assessment of the discovery appears in a statement by Gunnar Egge, Gullfaks production director. It retains the status of a statement by the operator. No net volume calculation for each partner is provided.
Three partners hold the field
According to the official record of the Sokkeldirektoratet, the Norwegian offshore petroleum authority, Equinor Energy AS holds 51% of Gullfaks Sør. Petoro AS holds 30% and OMV Norge AS 19%, for a total of 100%. This split has been registered since September 1, 2025.
Equinor Energy AS has been registered as operator since May 16, 2018. The group’s predecessors were already running operations before that date. The percentages correspond to shares in the field.
Company
Equinor: company profileEQNR
65 %70 %75 %06/0925/0915/10
A subsea satellite tied back to Gullfaks
Gullfaks Sør is a subsea satellite tied back to the Gullfaks platforms and has been producing since October 10, 1998. Gas from the system travels through Statpipe to Kårstø for processing and export. This infrastructure forms the industrial context of the discovery, without establishing the development scheme for the new volume.
The Sokkeldirektoratet describes, in its field description dated February 20, 2026, declining production. It also cites significant remaining gas volumes and regular new drilling. That reading remains distinct from a quantified forecast of additional production.