Norway’s Petroleum Safety Authority announced it has given oil major Equinor consent to drill exploration well 35/10-4 S, which aims to investigate a prospect named “Stålull”. Equinor is the operator for production licence 630.
The well is in the North Sea, west of the Fram field and around 67 kilometres from the nearest land, at Utvær in Solund municipality in the county of Sogn og Fjordane. Water depth at the site is around 363 metres.
Drilling is planned to begin in June 2018, with a duration of 84 days, depending on whether a discovery is made.
The well is to be drilled by Deepsea Bergen, which is a semi-submersible, mobile drilling facility of the Aker H-3.2 type, built at Aker Verdal in 1983. It is owned and operated by Odfjell Drilling. The facility is classified by DNV GL and registered in Norway.
Deepsea Bergen was issued with an Acknowledgement of Compliance (AoC) by the PSA in December 2001.
Earlier in June, PSA Norway also granted Equinor consent for exploration drilling of a well in the Barents Sea. The well will be drilled in order to investigate a prospect called “Intrepid Eagle” which is around 172 kilometres south-east of Bjørnøya. The water depth at this site is 452 metres.
Drilling on the field is planned to start in mid-August 2018, and will probably last 28 days, depending on whether a discovery is made.
