COSL rig to spin the drill bit at North Sea wildcat this month

Norway’s oil and gas player Vår Energi has secured a drilling permit from the country’s authorities to spud an exploration well in the North Sea, off the coast of Norway, using one of COSL Drilling Europe’s semi-submersible rigs.

The Norwegian Offshore Directorate (NOD) has granted Vår Energi a drilling permit for the wellbore 7/1-3 in production license 1090, which is valid from February 19, 2021, up to February 19, 2028.

Vår Energi is the operator of the license with a 50% stake, while Aker BP and Petoro, which hold 30% and 20%, respectively, act as its partners in the North Sea license.

The well is scheduled to be drilled in January 2025 with COSL’s COSL Pioneer semi-submersible rig, which is designed to operate in water depths up to 750 meters.

The 2010-built rig’s station keeping is maintained by an eight-line mooring system or dynamic position mode maintained by six fixed-pitch, variable-speed thrusters (DP3).

Recently, Vår Energi and Equinor confirmed oil in appraisal well 7122/8-2 S, drilled in the Barents Sea with another one of COSL’s rigs to delineate the Countach discovery.

As a result, the discovery size corresponds to 10-52 million barrels, and a tie-back to existing infrastructure on Goliat is being contemplated.

The Norwegian player continues its hydrocarbon exploration efforts, with more infill and exploration wells on the agenda in the coming years.