Norway: Det Norske Announces Start of Drilling at Krafla and Gullris Prospects

Det norske is partner in two ongoing exploration wells. Statoil is currently drilling the first section on the Krafla prospect in the North Sea production licenses 035 and 272.

In the Norwegian Sea, BG Norway started yesterday the drilling operation on the Gullris prospect in production license 522.

Krafla is an oil prospect located in the North Sea between the Oseberg and Frigg fields, and is located 158 km west of Bergen. The prospect is covered by production licenses 035 and 272. The licenses have the same partnership. Statoil is the operator of the licenses and drilling operation. Det norske has a 25 percent stake in the license, as has Svenska Petroleum.

Well 30/11-8S is drilled with the submersible drilling facility Ocean Vanguard. Gross unrisked resources in the prospect are between 10 and 50 million barrels of oil equivalent. Water depth is 106 meters.

Gullris is a large gas prospect in the Norwegian Sea, production license 522. Gross unrisked resource in Gullris is between 700 and 1,700 million barrels of oil equivalent. The well 6604/2-1 is drilled in deep water, 1,266 meters, with the semi-submersible drilling rig Aker Barents(photo). The rig is specialized for operations in deep water. The well will be drilled to a depth of 3,500 meters.

BG Norway is the operator of the license and drilling operation, with a stake of 40 percent. The other shareholders are Det norske (10%), Centrica Resources (10%), Idemitsu Petroleum (20%) and Petoro (20%).

Det norske sold a ten percent stake in Gullris to Centrica Resources before the drilling operation commenced.

About Det norske:

Det norske is the second-largest operating company on the Norwegian Continental Shelf both considering number of operatorships, exploration- and drilling activity. The aggressive exploration program is the largest an independent Norwegian company has ever conducted on the NCS. Det norske runs its activities in a safe and responsible manner in close cooperation with the authorities. Det norske will in 2011 participate in over 10 drilling operations as partner or as operator.

Det norske currently employs a staff of around 200. The company`s registered office is located in Trondheim. The company also has offices in Oslo, Harstad, and Stavanger. Det norske is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange (DETNOR).

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Source: Det Norske,  March 22, 2011; Image: Aker Drilling