Wedoany.com Report-Aug. 21, Aker BP ASA announced on Thursday an oil discovery estimated at 96–134 million barrels of oil equivalent (MMboe) in the Yggdrasil area of the North Sea, offshore Norway. The find, named Omega Alfa, is considered one of the most significant commercial discoveries in the country over the past decade.

'Omega Alfa is among the largest commercial discoveries in Norway in a decade'.

“Omega Alfa is among the largest commercial discoveries in Norway in a decade,” said Aker BP Chief Executive Karl Johnny Hersvik in a statement. “Building on the momentum from the oil discovery at East Frigg in 2023, it marks a major step toward our ambition of producing more than one billion barrels from the Yggdrasil area.”

The exploration campaign for Omega Alfa targeted five structures—Omega, Alfa, Alfa South, Sigma NE, and Pi—via a multilateral well on the western side of Yggdrasil. Earlier in July, Aker BP reported a discovery of 20–40 MMboe from two of the structures. Following the completion of the campaign, the recoverable volumes have been revised upward to between 96 and 134 MMboe.

Drilling was carried out by Odfjell Drilling Ltd.’s semi-submersible rig Deepsea Stavanger over a three-month period. The team drilled a total of 45,000 meters, including 40,000 meters within reservoir sections. “This included the three longest well branches ever drilled on the Norwegian continental shelf, with the longest branch reaching 10,666 meters,” Aker BP said. The horizontal drilling approach allowed for the collection of extensive high-quality reservoir data, reducing subsurface uncertainty and enabling swift progress toward concept studies for tie-back solutions.

Yggdrasil is currently the largest hydrocarbon development on the Norwegian continental shelf. Positioned between Alvheim and Oseberg, the field holds a proven resource base of about 700 MMboe. The development plan, approved in 2023, foresees production starting in 2027 through 55 wells.

The Yggdrasil development covers the Fulla, Hugin, and Munin licenses, all operated by Aker BP. In Fulla, Aker BP holds 40 percent, Norway’s Equinor owns 47.7 percent, and Poland’s ORLEN SA, through ORLEN Upstream Norway AS, holds 12.3 percent. In Hugin, Aker BP holds 87.7 percent while ORLEN has 12.3 percent. Munin is a 50–50 partnership between Aker BP and Equinor.

Planned infrastructure includes the Hugin A processing platform with living quarters, designed to be minimally manned. Munin, an unmanned production platform, will be placed to the north, supported by Hugin A for oil stabilization, water treatment, and water injection. Another unit, Hugin B, a normally unmanned wellhead platform, will redevelop the Froy field, which began production in 1995 but ceased operations in 2001. Subsea systems will include nine templates, pipelines, and umbilicals.

Natural gas from Yggdrasil will be transported through a pipeline system via Munin to Statpipe and Karsto, while oil will be exported through a pipeline connected to the Grane system and Sture terminal. Export pipeline operations will be managed by joint ventures with Equinor as operator. An onshore operations and control center is also planned in Stavanger. To reduce emissions, the Yggdrasil project will be powered from shore.