Green light for Neptune to spin the drill bit in Norwegian Sea

Oil and gas company Neptune Energy has secured two types of permits from Norwegian authorities for drilling operations in the Norwegian Sea, which will be carried out using a rig managed by the Norwegian drilling contractor, Odfjell Drilling.

The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) informed on Thursday that it had granted Neptune Energy a drilling permit for wellbore 6407/8-8 S, while the Petroleum Safety Authority Norway (PSA) disclosed last week that it gave Neptune consent for exploration drilling in block 6407/8 in the Norwegian Sea, covering wells 6407/8-8 S and 6407/8-8 A.

The drilling programme for wellbore 6407/8-8 S entails the drilling of a wildcat well in production licence 938, which was awarded on 2 March 2018 and is valid until 2 March 2025. Neptune Energy is the operator of the licence with an ownership interest of 30 per cent, while its partners are OKEA (30 per cent), Pandion Energy (20 per cent), and Vår Energi (20 per cent).

Neptune Energy is targeting a prospect named Calypso and drilling operations will be conducted in water depths of 271 meters with the Deepsea Yantai semi-submersible rig – formerly known as the Beacon Atlantic – which is owned by China’s CIMC and managed by Odfjell Drilling.

This rig has been working for Neptune Energy in Norway since November 2019. Two years later, in November 2021, Neptune extended the rig’s contract to include three additional wells in 2022. Earlier this month, Neptune added two more wells to the rig’s backlog.

The 2019-built Deepsea Yantai rig, which is capable of harsh environment operation, is of a GM4D design. In August 2022, the rig made an oil discovery in the Norwegian North Sea while drilling for Neptune. This was Neptune’s second discovery in four months.