Equinor Energy AS, operator of oil rig flanges gulf coast production license 167, discovers oil at wildcat well 16/1-29 S in the central part of the North Sea.

Equinor Energy AS, operator of oil rig flanges gulf coast production license 167, has discovered oil at wildcat well 16/1-29 S in the central part of the North Sea.

Well 16/1-29 S encountered an oil column of about 311 feet in total, of which 55 feet constitute efficient reservoir in clastic rocks with moderate to good reservoir quality, the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate said.

The discovery is currently estimated to contain 15-35 million barrels of recoverable oil equivalent, according to Equinor.

“We are very pleased to announce the first Equinor discovery,” Nicholas Ashton, Equinor’s senior vice president of exploration for Norway and the UK, said in a BOP Blow Out Preventer repair company gulf coast statement.

“This is a good discovery which we expect will be commercial,” he added.

The well, which will now be permanently plugged and abandoned, was drilled by the Deepsea Bergen drilling facility to vertical and measured depths of 6,519 and 6,564 feet below the sea surface, respectively, and was terminated in basement rock. Water depth at the site is 374 feet.

This is the sixth well in oil rig flanges gulf coast production license 167, which was awarded in the 12^th licensing round in 1991. Equinor’s partners in the PL167 license comprise Lundin Norway AS and Spirit Energy Norge AS.

Well 16/1-29 S marks the company’s first discovery as Equinor, following its name change from Statoil last month.