Lundin cleared to drill Barents Sea well

Swedish oil company Lundin Energy has been given a drilling permit to drill the 7219/11-1 well in the Barents Sea, offshore Norway.

Under the permit, given to Lundin by the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD), the well will be drilled in production license 533 B using Northern Drilling’s West Bollsta offshore drilling rig.

Lundin is the operator of the license with an ownership interest of 40 per cent and other licensees are Aker BP with a 35 per cent and Wintershall Dea with a 25 per cent interest.

The area in this licence consists of part of block 7219/11. The well will be drilled about 35 kilometres northwest of 7220/11-1, the Alta discovery.

Production licence 533 B was awarded on 2 March 2018 in APA 2017. This is the first well to be drilled in the licence.

As for the rig, the formerly named Bollsta Dolphin semi-submersible was built by Hyundai in December 2017 and is capable of operating in harsh environment areas and ultra-deep waters of up to 10,000 feet.

The original client for the rig, Fred. Olsen Energy, cancelled the order in 2015 as a result of the delays in the delivery date.

The West Bollsta was hired by Lundin for a 10-well contract in February 2019. Apart from the ten wells agreed, Lundin will have four additional one-well options, that, if fully exercised, would keep the West Bollsta rig busy in Norway until the third quarter of 2022.

It is worth noting that the West Bollsta-Lundin contract would be managed by Seadrill.