All systems go for Equinor’s drilling ops with COSL rig next month

Norwegian state-owned oil and gas giant Equinor has secured a drilling permit for an exploration well in the Barents Sea off the coast of Norway, which will be drilled next month with COSL Drilling Europe’s semi-submersible rig.

The Norwegian Offshore Directorate (NOD) has granted Equinor a drilling permit for the wellbore 7220/5-4 in production license 532, which is valid from May 15, 2009, up to the same date in 2049.

Equinor is the operator of the license with a 46.3% stake, while Vår Energi and Petoro, which hold 30% and 23.7%, respectively, act as its partners in the Barents Sea license.

The well is scheduled to be drilled in June 2025 with COSL’s COSL Prospector semi-submersible rig, which won a two-year contract in September 2023 with Vår Energi in the Barents Sea and started the job in the third quarter of 2024.

The rig deal, with three years of extension options for a maximum duration of five years, builds on the cooperation between Vår Energi and Equinor, enabling the duo to secure access to the rig for the 2024-2026 period.

With a maximum drilling depth of 7,500 meters, the COSL Prospector rig is of GG5000 design and can operate in water depths up to 1,500 meters. This rig was used last year to confirm oil in the appraisal well 7122/8-2 S, drilled in the Barents Sea to delineate the Countach discovery.

Afterward, it was determined that the discovery size corresponds to 10-52 million barrels, and a tie-back to existing infrastructure on Goliat is being contemplated.