CDN NEWS | 
US NEWS 
Equinor ASA will drill about 26 wildcat and appraisal wells off the coast of Norway in 2026, mostly in the country’s North Sea, as the company looks to spend $6 billion a year over the next ten years to maintain the flow of oil and gas to Europe.
Norway’s biggest oil and gas company will drill about 20 exploration and appraisal wells in the North Sea, and 3 each in the Barents and Norwegian Seas, according to Jez Averty, a senior vice president for Equinor’s exploration and production unit. The pace of drilling will be similar in 2027, he said.
“It’s a very mature shelf, so you have got to be investing in new data to get new insights into old areas,” said Averty, speaking in an interview on the sidelines of the company’s autumn conference in Oslo on Tuesday. While Equinor targets 20% of its exploration on new prospects, only two of the planned wells for 2026 will be entirely fresh, he said.
Equinor will spend about $60 billion a year over the next ten years, as it looks to drill 250 exploration wells and develop 75 subsea fields, CEO Anders Opedal said, speaking at the same event. The continental shelf will “continue to be the backbone of this company,” he added.
Read More: Norway’s $15 Billion Oil Bets Show Faith in Demand
Norway remains Europe’s biggest supplier of natural gas, a position it has held for the past three years. Producers operating on the country’s continental shelf delivered record levels of natural gas last year and are due to invest an estimated 249 billion kroner ($24 billion) in 2026 on activities ranging from exploration, to field development and pipeline transport.
Still, the country’s energy directorate forecasts that the output of hydrocarbons is set to decline after this year.
Share This:
