DNO gets nod to plug North Sea wells with Dolphin rig

Norwegian offshore safety watchdog, the Petroleum Safety Authority (PSA), has given DNO Norge consent for the use of the Borgland Dolphin rig for a permanent plugging of wells on a field offshore Norway.

The safety watchdog said on Friday that the consent is for the permanent plugging of wells A-1 H, A-2 H, and A-3 HT2 on the Oselvar field.

The field is located in production licence 274 in the North Sea.

DNO is the operator of the production licence with a 55 per cent interest and CapeOmega is its partner with the remaining 45 per cent interest.

Oselvar is a field in the southern part of the Norwegian sector in the North Sea, 20 kilometres southwest of the Ula field. The water depth is 70 metres.

It was discovered in 1991 and the plan for development and operation (PDO) was approved in 2009.

The development concept was a subsea template with three horizontal production wells tied to Ula. Production started in 2012.

The field was shut down in May 2018. According to the formal disposal resolution, decommissioning is expected to be completed by the end of 2022.

DNO will be using the Borgland Dolphin semi-sub rig for the plugging of these wells under a contract awarded in early November 2020.

Under the contract, the work was confirmed for one exploration well plus plug and abandonment activity on three wells on the Norwegian Continental Shelf.

The Borgland Dolphin is a semi-submersible drilling rig built in 1977 by Harland & Wolff. The rig received major upgrades back in 1998/1999.