Saipem rig cleared to spin the drill bit in Norwegian waters

Norwegian oil and gas player Aker BP has secured a drilling permit for an exploration well in the Norwegian Sea off the coast of Norway, which is slated to be drilled this month using a semi-submersible rig owned by Italy’s Saipem.

The Norwegian Offshore Directorate (NOD) has granted Aker BP a drilling permit for the wellbore 6405/7-4 in production license 1005, which was awarded on March 1, 2019, and is valid until the same date in 2029.

Aker BP is the operator of the production license and holds a 40% stake, while its partners, Vår Energi and Norske Shell, hold 40% and 20% stakes, respectively. The drilling of the wildcat well, which will be carried out using Saipem’s Scarabeo 8 semi-submersible rig, is planned to start in March 2025.

The European oil and gas operator extended the rig’s stay on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS) in September 2024, prolonging the unit’s assignment in Norway until the end of 2026. The semi-sub secured a three-year deal, worth $325 million, in March 2022 and began its assignment in early 2023.

With an accommodation capacity of 140 people and a maximum drilling depth of 35,000 feet (about 10,668 meters), Scarabeo 8 is a sixth-generation dual derrick deepwater semi-submersible drilling rig.

Aker BP had no luck finding hydrocarbons at its recently drilled well in the Norwegian Sea weeks after its wildcat well 35/6-5 S turned out to be dry and two months after discovering no hydrocarbons in the well 34/6-7 S.

Recently, Drydocks World Dubai, part of DP World, completed the final section of a module for the Norwegian firm’s new platform, which will be deployed at an oil and gas development in the Norwegian North Sea.