The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) has granted DEA Norge AS a drilling permit for a wildcat well in the Barents Sea offshore Norway.
The NPD said on Thursday that the well, named 7321/4-1, would be drilled from the Island Innovator drilling rig after concluding the drilling of wildcat well 7322/7-1 for Spirit Energy in production license 852.
The DEA Norge AS is the operator of production license 721 with an ownership interest of 40 percent. The other licensees are Aker BP ASA and Wintershall Norge AS with 40 percent and 20 percent, respectively.
Area in this license consists of all of block 7321/4. The well will be drilled about 140 kilometers north of the Johan Castberg field and 350 kilometers northwest of Hammerfest. The purpose of the well is to investigate the prospect named Gråspett.
The license was awarded on June 21, 2013, in the 22nd licensing round on the Norwegian Shelf. This is the first well to be drilled in the license.
To remind, DEA received consent in late July from the Norwegian offshore safety body, the Petroleum Safety Authority (PSA), to drill the 7321/4-1 exploration well in the Barents Sea using the Island Innovator rig.
As for the rig, the Island Innovator semi-submersible drilling rig is 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.