The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) has granted A/S Norske Shell a drilling permit for wellbore 6603/5-1 S, cf. Section 8 of the Resource Management Regulations.
Wellbore 6603/5-1 S will be drilled from the Aker Barents drilling facility at position 66°34’33.20” north and 3°32’46.10” east after completing drilling of the appraisal well on the Gro discovery in production licence 326.
The drilling programme for wellbore 6603/5-1 S relates to the drilling of a wildcat well in production licence 392.
A/S Norske Shell is the operator with a 40 per cent ownership interest. The other licensees are Statoil Petroleum AS (20 per cent), ConocoPhillips Skandinavia AS (20 per cent) and BG Norge AS (20 per cent). The area in this licence consists of the blocks 6603/5, 6603/6, 6603/7 and 6603/8.
The well will be drilled in the Norwegian Sea about 50 kilometres northeast of the Gro discovery and approximately 410 kilometres west of Sandnessjøen.
Production licence 392 was awarded on 28 April 2006 (19th licensing round on the Norwegian shelf). This is the first well to be drilled in the licence.
The drilling permit is granted on the condition that all other permits and consents required by other authorities have been secured before the drilling activity commences.
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Source: NPD, September 3, 2010;