Dec 5, 2025
Vår Energi Discovers Oil Near Arctic Field in Norway
Vår Energi announced an oil discovery on Thursday near its Goliat field in the Barents Sea, Norway's first operational Arctic oilfield. The discovery, made at the Goliat North exploration well, is located five kilometers (3 miles) north of the Goliat field. This find increases the total gross discovered resources at the Goliat Ridge and could connect to the nearby Goliat floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) unit.
Vår Energi, along with its minority partner Equinor, intends to drill four wells in the Goliat Ridge area.
With this latest find, the Goliat Ridge is estimated to hold between 39 and 108 million barrels of oil equivalent (boe) in gross discovered resources, while additional prospective resources could raise the total gross potential to as much as 200 million boe, according to Vår Energi.
Operators in Norwegian waters are investigating opportunities near existing fields to leverage current infrastructure for increased oil and gas production through tie-backs and tie-ins, which are generally more cost-effective than new standalone projects.
This year, Equinor has made an oil discovery and a separate gas discovery close to its Johan Castberg oilfield in the Barents Sea, with plans to evaluate potential connections to the Arctic field that commenced operations earlier this year.
Since 2022, Norway has increased its gas production and has surpassed Russia as Europe’s leading gas supplier. Although not an EU member, Norway, a founding NATO member and a crucial ally to the EU and UK, aims to continue supplying the gas that Europe requires.
Major new oilfields, such as the Johan Castberg oilfield—Norway’s northernmost and second-largest producing field in the Barents Sea—have also contributed to the rise in crude oil production.
Companies operating offshore Norway are boosting their gas and oil production, supported by the Norwegian government, which remains committed to the oil and gas sector and the substantial revenues it generates for the nation and its sovereign wealth fund, the largest in the world.
Vår Energi, along with its minority partner Equinor, intends to drill four wells in the Goliat Ridge area.
With this latest find, the Goliat Ridge is estimated to hold between 39 and 108 million barrels of oil equivalent (boe) in gross discovered resources, while additional prospective resources could raise the total gross potential to as much as 200 million boe, according to Vår Energi.
Operators in Norwegian waters are investigating opportunities near existing fields to leverage current infrastructure for increased oil and gas production through tie-backs and tie-ins, which are generally more cost-effective than new standalone projects.
This year, Equinor has made an oil discovery and a separate gas discovery close to its Johan Castberg oilfield in the Barents Sea, with plans to evaluate potential connections to the Arctic field that commenced operations earlier this year.
Since 2022, Norway has increased its gas production and has surpassed Russia as Europe’s leading gas supplier. Although not an EU member, Norway, a founding NATO member and a crucial ally to the EU and UK, aims to continue supplying the gas that Europe requires.
Major new oilfields, such as the Johan Castberg oilfield—Norway’s northernmost and second-largest producing field in the Barents Sea—have also contributed to the rise in crude oil production.
Companies operating offshore Norway are boosting their gas and oil production, supported by the Norwegian government, which remains committed to the oil and gas sector and the substantial revenues it generates for the nation and its sovereign wealth fund, the largest in the world.