Lundin picks up drilling permit for Barents Sea wildcat

The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) has granted Lundin Norway a drilling permit for wildcat well 7220/6-3 in the Barents Sea.

Earlier this week, the Norwegian offshore safety body, the Petroleum Safety Authority, granted Lundin consent to drill the 7220/6-3 well using the Ocean Rig-owned Leiv Eiriksson semi-submersible drilling rig.

The drilling program under the permit relates to the drilling of a wildcat well in production license 609 where Lundin is the operator with an ownership interest of 40 percent with the licensees being Idemitsu Petroleum Norge with 30 percent and DEA Norge as the holder of the remaining 30 percent interest.

According to information provided by the safety regulator, drilling will begin in July and last approx. 34 days, depending on whether a discovery is made.

The area in this license consists of blocks or parts of blocks 7220/6, 7220/9, 7220/11, 7220/12, and 7221/4. The well will be drilled about 18 kilometers northwest of the discovery well, 7220/6-2 R, in production license 609.

Production license 609 was awarded in the 21st licensing round back in 2011.