No luck in search for new reserves near Troll oil and gas field in North Sea

June 1 (UPI) -- Norwegian energy company Equinor came up empty handed in its search for new reserves in an untested area near the Troll oil and gas field in the North Sea, the nation's energy regulator said Thursday.

The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate reported that Equinor finished drilling a wildcat well some 2 miles west of the Troll field. Oil from Troll is one of the grades included in the basket of reserves that make up Brent, the global benchmark for the price of oil.

The well was drilled by the Deepsea Stavanger rig, which is moving on to another wildcat well in the same production area. A wildcat well is one that's been drilled in an area not previously known to contain hydrocarbon reserves.

Troll is among the largest crude oil fields on the Norwegian continental shelf, but it also contains about 40% of the region's total gas reserves.

Both oil and natural gas from Norway are an integral part of energy security for the United Kingdom and the European Union, with the latter seeing support during the 2022 energy crisis that was triggered by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Prior to the conflict, Russia was among the main natural gas suppliers for the regional economy, though the likes of Norway and the United States are filling the void.

Supplies were disrupted, however, due to a recent leak at the Hammerfest liquefied natural gas plant.

"The leak occurred in connection with a valve in one of the plant's cooling circuits," Equinor stated. "The gas that leaked is used for cooling during production of liquid natural gas."

The company said it managed to stop the leak by Wednesday, however. No injuries were reported among the 98 crew members on scene and there were no indications of any adverse environmental impact.

"It is too soon to say when production at the plant can be resumed," Equinor added.