The oil discovery was confirmed in May 2023 in the Yggdrasil area and is the longest exploration well ever drilled on the Norwegian continental shelf. The discovery was estimated to be around 70 million recoverable barrels of oil equivalent, increasing the total resources in the Yggdrasil area to over 700 million barrels.

Øst Frigg Beta/Epsilon won the Exploration Innovation Prize because innovative methods were used when they drilled horizontal wells that were several kilometers long.

Torstein Skorve was subsurface Lead for Øst Frigg Beta/Epsilon during the drilling operation.

– Drilling NCS’s longest exploration well would not have been possible without good cooperation between drilling and wells (D&W) and exploration and reservoir development(ExpRes). We have faith and trust in each other, which means that we challenge not only each other, but also accepted truths about what is possible to achieve in a well, says Skorve.

– In the Øst Frigg Beta/Epsilon well, both ExpRes and D&W saw a common value in long, horizontal wells. We at ExpRes saw for every meter we drilled that we found increased oil volumes for the Øst Frigg Beta/Epsilon project at the same time that D&W gathered important drilling experience ahead of production well drilling at Frigg Gamma Delta and East Frigg Epsilon, he continues.

Vice president of exploration, Olav Antonio Blaich mentions good support from everyone in the company as an important success criterion for the project.

– It is so great that we are recognized for pushing the geological boundaries and challenging the established truths. It is also particularly important that we work in a company that invests so much in exploration, and who wishes to support new and good ideas, he says.

The Exploration Innovation Prize was awarded at the NCS Exploration – Recent Discoveries conference on 7 May. The prize is awarded to a company, team or license group that has made an innovative technological contribution to the search for oil and gas on the Norwegian continental shelf in recent years.