Equinor gearing up for North Sea well duo

The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) has granted Equinor a drilling permit for a wildcat and an appraisal well in the North Sea off Norway.

The NPD said on Thursday that wells 35/10-7 S and A will be drilled from the West Hercules drilling rig.

The drilling programme for wells 35/10-7 S and A relates to the drilling of a wildcat well and an appraisal well in production licence 630.

Equinor Energy is the operator with an ownership interest of 50 per cent and Wellesley Petroleum is its partner, holding 50 per cent.

The area in this licence consists of part of block 35/10. The wells will be drilled about 16 kilometres northwest of the Troll field and 12 kilometres west of the Fram field.

Production licence 630 was awarded on 3 February 2012 (APA2011). These are the fourth and fifth exploration wells to be drilled in the licence.

West Hercules is a 6th-generation semi-submersible drilling rig built in 2008 at Daewoo Shipyard, South Korea. The rig received an Acknowledgement of Compliance (AoC) from the PSA in 2012.

Earlier this year, Equinor was also given a permit to drill a wildcat well in the Norwegian Sea, also with the West Hercules rig.