Equinor gains drilling permit for Norwegian Sea wildcat

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

The NPD said on Monday that the wildcat well, designated 6407/11-1, would be drilled from the Deepsea Bergen drilling rig.

The drilling program for the well relates to the drilling of a wildcat well in production license 751.

Equinor is the operator of the license with an ownership interest of 80 percent. Other licensee is Petoro with a 20 percent interest. The area in this permit consists of the largest part of block 6407/11. The well will be drilled about 17 kilometers southeast of the Njord field.

The license was awarded on February 7, 2014, in APA2013. The 6407/11-1 will be the first well to be drilled in the license.

As for the rig, the Deepsea Bergen is a semi-submersible drilling rig of the Aker H-3.2 type built at Aker Verdal in 1983. The rig is owned and operated by Odfjell Drilling and classified by DNV GL and registered in Norway.

The Deepsea Bergen was issued with an Acknowledgement of Compliance (AoC) by the PSA in December 2001.