Norwegian operator DEA Norge has received consent from the Norwegian offshore safety body, the Petroleum Safety Authority (PSA), to drill an exploration well in the Barents Sea using the Island Innovator rig.
The well, named 7321/4-1, is located in production license 721 in the Barents Sea where DEA is the operator.
Announcing its consent for the well on Thursday, the PSA informed that drilling is planned to start in late August 2018. The drilling activities are scheduled to last 32 days.
According to the safety body, the purpose of the well is to investigate the prospect named Gråspett.
The location is 120 kilometers northeast of the Johan Castberg field, 93 kilometers southeast of Bjørnøya, and 309 kilometers from the Norwegian mainland in a water depth of 497 meters.
The well will be drilled by the Island Innovator drilling rig. It is a semi-submersible drilling rig of a Global Maritime GM4000 type, delivered by the COSCO Shipyard in China in 2012. It is owned by Island Drilling Company, operated by Odfjell Drilling and classified by DNV GL.
Island Innovator was issued with an Acknowledgement of Compliance (AoC) by the PSA in August 2013.