The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate has granted RWE Dea Norge a drilling permit for well 35/9-11 in the Norwegian part of the North Sea.
Well 35/9-11 S/A will be drilled from the Leiv Eiriksson semi submersible drilling rig, after drilling is completed on wildcat well 25/5-9 for Total E&P Norge AS in production licence 102 F.
The drilling programme for well 35/9-11 S/A relates to the drilling of an appraisal well in production licence 420 where RWE Dea Norge is the operator with an ownership interest of 30 per cent. The other licensees are Statoil Petroleum AS (40 per cent) and Idemitsu Petroleum (30 per cent). The area in this licence consists of part of block 35/9. The well will be drilled about 16 kilometres west of the Gjøa field.
Production licence 420 was awarded on 16 February 2007 (APA 2006). This is the second well to be drilled in the licence.
The permit is contingent on the operator securing all other permits and consents required by other authorities before the drilling activity starts.