ConocoPhillips gets drilling permit for Norwegian Sea well

The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) has granted ConocoPhillips a drilling permit for a well located in the Norwegian Sea.

The NPD said on Monday that the 6507/4-1 well would be drilled from the Leif Eiriksson drilling rig after concluding the drilling of wildcat well 16/1-33 S for Spirit Energy in production licence 780.

The drilling programme for the well relates to the drilling of wildcat wells in production licence 1009. ConocoPhillips’ subsidiary, ConocoPhillips Skandinavia, is the operator with an ownership interest of 65 per cent. The other licensee is PGNiG with a 35 per cent stake.

The area in this licence consists of parts of blocks 6507/4 and 6506/6. The well will be drilled about 27 kilometres southwest of the Skarv field.

According to the NPD, production licence 1009 was awarded on 1 March 2019 (APA 2018). This is the first exploration well to be drilled in the licence.

Also, the Petroleum Safety Authority (PSA), Norway’s offshore safety regulator, has already approved the use of the Leiv Eiriksson on this well last month.

As for the rig, the Leiv Eiriksson is a semi-submersible drilling rig of the SS Trosvik Bingo 9000 type, managed by Transocean following the acquisition of the rig’s previous owner Ocean Rig.