Norwegian oil and gas safety regulator has given approval to Wintershall to carry out exploration drilling in the Norwegian Sea with Transocean Arctic rig.
Wintershall Norge, a member of the German BASF Group, will use the Marosso 56 design semi-submersible drilling rig to drill the well 6407/1-6, which is part of production licence 475 in a water depth of 291 meters.
According to the information on the PSA Norway website, drilling is expected to start in November 2012. Depending on whether a discovery is made, the exploration drilling is expected to last approximately 130 days.
Wintershall is operator of PL 475 with 50 per cent interest. Other partners are Faroe Petroleum (30%) and Centrica Resources (Norge) AS (20%).
[mappress] Offshore Energy Today Staff, October 31, 2012