Statoil to drill wildcat in Barents Sea

The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate has granted Statoil Petroleum AS a drilling permit for well 7125/4-3 in the production licence 393 B, in the Barents Sea.

Well 7125/4-3 will be drilled from the Transocean Spitsbergen semi-submersible drilling rig,  type Aker H-6e. It was built in 2009 at Aker Stord, is registered in the Bahamas and classified in DnV. It received an Acknowledgement of Compliance (AoC) in July 2012.

The drilling programme for well 7125/4-3 relates to drilling of a wildcat well in production licence 393 B. Statoil Petroleum AS is the operator with an ownership interest of 50 per cent. The other licensees are Petoro AS (20 per cent), Concedo ASA (20 per cent) and OMV (Norge) AS (10 per cent). The area in this licence consists of parts of block 7125/4 and 7125/5. The well will be drilled about 110 kilometres northeast of Hammerfest.

Production licence 393 B was awarded on 10 September 2010 (follow up to the 19th licensing round on the Norwegian shelf). This is the first well to be drilled in the licence.

The permit is contingent upon the operator securing all other permits and consents required by other authorities prior to starting drilling activities.