Equinor picks up drilling permit for Intrepid Eagle prospect

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

NPD said on Tuesday that the drilling program was for a wildcat well, labeled 7324/3-1, located in production license 615.

Equinor is the operator of production license 615 with an ownership interest of 55 percent. The other licensees are Petoro (25 percent), and OMV (25 percent).

The area in this license consists of parts of blocks 7324/1, 7324/2, 7324/3, and 7325/1. The well will be drilled about 13 kilometers west of the 7325/1-1 gas discovery, Atlantis, and about 30 kilometers northwest of the 7325/4-1 oil/gas discovery, Gemini Nord, and will test the Intrepid Eagle prospect.

The NPD added that the well would be drilled by the West Hercules semi-submersible drilling rig.

Production license 615 was awarded on May 13, 2011, in the 21st licensing round on the Norwegian shelf. Well 7324/3-1 is the third well to be drilled in the license.