Lift off as Sputnik partners hit oil

Commenting on Equinor, OMV and Petoro’s Sputnik discovery, Jamie Thompson, an analyst with Wood Mackenzie’s North Sea upstream team, said: “Despite being small and remote – it lies more than 300 kilometres from shore in the northern Hoop area of the Barents Sea - Sputnik has a high chance of commerciality.

“The aptly-named field could be a satellite of the pre-FID 440 million-barrel Wisting development, which is just 30 kilometres from Sputnik.

“We expect Wisting to reach FID in 2022, with first oil in 2026. If it progresses to plan, Sputnik could start up towards the end of the decade when Wisting comes off plateau.”

He said: “The potential commerciality of Sputnik provides a much-needed boost to Barents exploration and highlights the importance of developing new infrastructure in this emerging basin.

“Equinor (55%, operator) and partners OMV (25%) and Petoro (20%) will be encouraged by proving further oil in an area where they hold strong acreage positions.”

Equinor’s Mist, near Johan Castberg, is the only other exploration well expected to spud in the Barents in 2019. But high-potential wells are planned in the Hoop and southeast in 2020.

Sputnik lies in PL 855. The discovery well (7324/6-1) encountered a 15-metre oil column in a Triassic sandstone reservoir, Equinor said. Preliminary estimates peg recoverable resources at between 20 million and 65 million barrels of oil.