Chinese rig finds oil in the Barents Sea

By Atle Staalesen, The Independent Barents Observer December 16, 2024
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The Cosl Prospector discovered up to 52 million barrels of oil in an appraisal well in Norwegian Arctic waters.

Chinese company COSL has growing experiences from the Barents Sea, not only from the Norwegian part of the area. Over several years, the company’s Nanhai 8 drilled wells in Russian Arctic waters. Ahead of the expeditions, the rig and its crew paid a visit to Murmansk. Photo: Murmansk regional government

The well is estimated to hold between 1,6 and 8,3 million standard cubic meters of oil equivalents, or 10-52 million barrels, the Norwegian Offshore Directorate informs.

It is located near Goliat, the oil field operated by company Vår Energi.

The discovery was made by Cosl Prospector, a semisubmersible owned and operated by COSL Drilling Europe. The company is the European branch of Chinese state-owned enterprise China Oilfield Services (COSL).

Cosl Prospector is built by a Chinese yard in 2014 and operates under the flag of Singapore.

The COSL Prospector will over the next years drill for Equinor and Vår Energi in the Barents Sea.
Photo: COSL.no

“The discovery confirms the potential of the Goliat ridge, where additional gross prospective recoverable resources of over 100 mmboe will be assessed with the planned drilling program in 2025, Vår Energi writes in a statement.

According to the company, another three wells are to be drilled in the area in 2025; the Zagato North, Zagato South and Goliat North wells.

“We are committed to further develop the Barents Sea as a strategically important petroleum province,” Torger Rød, COO of Vår Energi says.

Vår Energi is a Norwegian company established in 2018 following a merger between ENI and Point Resources.

The company owns 65 percent of the license area. Equinor holds the remaining 35 percent.

Both companies in 2023 signed contracts with COSL for drilling in the Barents Sea.

Despite repeated warnings from Norwegian security and intelligence authorities about Chinese threats, the Norwegian oil industry continues to cooperate with Chinese state-affiliated companies.

Communication Adviser Jan Eirik Heigre Gjerdevik at Vår Energi previously underlined to the Barents Observer that a thorough evaluation was made ahead of signing the contract with COSL.

“The most important for us is to contract secure and reliable rigs for our drilling campaigns. In line with regular contract procedures we also in this case conducted a careful evaluation that included a duel diligence assessment.”

He also underlined that COSL Drilling Europe is a company based and managed from Norway and that Vår Energi has “full confidence that it is run in accordance with Norwegian and international laws.

“On a general basis, we have continuous dialogue with Norwegian authorities about issues of security and safety on the Norwegian shelf.”

Located in Kirkenes, Norway, just a few kilometres from the borders to Russia and Finland, the Barents Observer is dedicated to cross-border journalism in Scandinavia, Russia and the wider Arctic.

As a non-profit stock company that is fully owned by its reporters, its editorial decisions are free of regional, national or private-sector influence. It has been a partner to ABJ and its predecessors since 2016.