Equinor expected to begin Rosebank drilling soon

Equinor is preparing to begin drilling operations for the Rosebank field development west of Shetland, acording to a public offshore activity notice and industry sources.

The upcoming drilling campaign marks a key milestone for one of the UK Continental Shelf’s largest undeveloped oil and gas projects.

The Rosebank field lies about 130 km (81 miles) northwest of the Shetland Islands in the Faroe-Shetland Channel, in water depths of roughly 1,100 m (3,608 ft).

The development plan includes drilling four production wells, three water-injection wells, and two plug-and-abandonment wells during the first phase, with the potential for additional wells in a later phase depending on early results.

Produced hydrocarbons will be transported through new subsea flowlines to the redeployed and refurbished Petrojarl Knarr FPSO, where the fluids will be processed before export. Gas from the project will be transported through a new pipeline linked to the West of Shetland Pipeline System, while oil will be offloaded to shuttle tankers.

Subsea installation work began in 2024, with first drilling planned for March 2026 and first oil targeted for 4Q 2026, although this could fall back to late 2026/early 2027, according to reports.

The Rosebank development is part of the existing licensed North Sea portfolio (not a new exploration license), a consideration which has enabled it to advance under current UK policy despite the government's broader stance against new oil and gas licenses.

Rosebank is expected to operate for approximately 25 years once production begins. Equinor is the operator of the project on behalf of license partners Equinor UK Ltd. and Ithaca SP E&P Ltd.