Statoil gets go-ahead from NPD for North Sea wildcat drilling

The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate has granted Statoil Petroleum AS a drilling permit for well 15/6-13, located in the North Sea. 

Well 15/6-13 S will be drilled from the Songa Trym semi-submersible drilling rig near the Gina Krog field in the central North Sea.

In February, the company received consent from the Petroleum Safety Authority Norway to carry out exploration drilling of well 15/6-13 with the Songa Trym rig.

The drilling program for well 15/6-13 concerns the drilling of a wildcat well in production licence 029 B. Statoil Petroleum AS is the operator with an ownership interest of 50 per cent. The other licensees are Total E&P Norge AS and Det norske oljeselskap ASA with 30 and 20 per cent, respectively.

The area in this licence consists of part of block 15/6. Production licence 029 B was awarded on May 11, 2001 after being partitioned off from PL 029, which was awarded in the 2nd licensing round in 1969. This is the second wildcat well to be drilled in the licence, but wildcat wells have previously been drilled within the area covered by this licence.

According to NPD, the permit is contingent upon the operator having secured all other permits and consents required by other authorities before the drilling starts.

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