Lundin Norway, along with partners DEA and AkerBP, has struck oil at the Filicudi prospect in the southern Barents Sea, boosting confidence in the Arctic ice-free region’s potential to become a major production area.

Located just 40 km (25 miles) southwest of the Statoil-operated Johan Castberg discovery, the Lundin Petroleum subsidiary said the prospect could hold between 35 million barrels of oil equivalent (MMboe) and 100 MMboe. Neighboring discoveries include Alta and Gohta, also operated by Lundin, on the Loppa High about 30 kilometers (19 miles) northwest of the latest oil find in PL533.

“This discovery indicates a potential extension of the Jurassic trend from the Johan Castberg area into a promising new region,” Svend Erik Pettersson, exploration manager for DEA in Norway, said in a Feb. 13 statement. Lundin Norway operates PL 533 and holds a 35% interest, while DEA holds 30% interest and Aker BP holds the remaining 35%.

News of the discovery was shared Feb. 13 as the oil and gas industry continued to climb back from a downturn that slowed exploration activity and spending, including in the Arctic region. Rising commodity prices, which have consistently held above $50/bbl, have improved market conditions and given E&P companies courage to step up drilling plans.

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Lundin said its 7219/12-1 well, drilled with the Leiv Eiriksson semisubmersible drilling rig, hit a 129-meter (m) (423 ft) hydrocarbon column, which was confirmed by sidetrack well 7219/12-1A.

Lundin Norway, Lundin Petroleum, Filicudi, Barents Sea, discovery, oil, Statoil, Johan Castberg

“Extensive data acquisition and sampling has been carried out including coring, logging and oil and gas sampled from the wireline tools,” Lundin said in a news release. “Well results indicate significant upside potential that require further appraisal drilling.”

While the Filicudi prospect isn’t as large as Johan Castberg, which has resources of about 500 MMboe, Lundin said drilling additional prospects could lift the discovery to 700 MMboe.

Partners are pondering drilling the nearby Hufsa and Hurri prospects, with prospective resources of 285 MMboe and 218 MMboe, respectively, this year. Both, Lundin said, have been de-risked by Filicudi and carry a 25% chance of success.

During its Capital Market Day presentation Feb. 13, Lundin Petroleum said about 1 Bboehas been discovered in the Barents Sea recently, building on the 1.67 Bboe in reserves at the Snøhvit fields and the 180 MMboe at Goliat, operated by Eni. The two are the region’s most mature fields.

OMV’s Wisting Central and Hansteen discoveries have also added to the region’s attractiveness in recent years. The Wisting discovery, in which Statoil holds a 35% stake, could contain more than 1 Bboe. In addition to progressing plans for its Johan Castberg discovery, which calls for an FPSO vessel, Statoil ASA (NYSE: STO) is pursuing a five- to six-well exploration campaign in the Barents Sea.

“The Barents Sea has yielded several of Norway’s most significant oil discoveries in recent years,” Tim Dodson, Statoil’s executive vice president for exploration, said in a Jan. 4 statement. “We are looking forward to test new targets, both in the relatively well known geology around in the Johan Castberg and Hoop/Wisting area, as well as some new frontier opportunities with greater geological uncertainty but also high impact potential.”

Lundin and partners are also moving forward with exploration activity for its other Barents Sea finds. Among these are Alta and Gohta, which further reduces uncertainty in the area. Alta has contingent resources of up to 400 MMboe and Gohta has up to 184 MMboe. Plans for 2017 include another appraisal well at each field as well as getting new “high-spec” 3-D seismic data, followed by extended well tests in 2018, Lundin said in the presentation.

In November, Lundin’s wildcat well 7220/6-2R struck a 20-m (66-ft) oil column and an overlying 10-m gas column in the Ørn Formation at its Neiden prospect about 20 km (12 miles) east of Johan Castberg, according to the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate. Resource estimates for the discovery were between 25 MMboe and 60 MMboe.

Velda Addison can be reached at vaddison@hartenergy.com or via Twitter @VeldaAddison.