Tullow to drill N. Sea well using Borgland Dolphin rig

The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) has issued a drilling permit to Tullow Oil Norge for the well 31/2-21 S, located in the Norwegian part of the North Sea.

The well 31/2-21 S will be drilled from the Borgland Dolphin semi submersible drilling rig, following completion of the drilling of wildcat well 6407/1-7 for Wintershall in production licence 475.

The drilling programme for well 31/2-21 S concerns drilling of a wildcat well in production licence 550. Tullow Oil Norge is the operator with an ownership interest of 90 per cent. The other licensee is Det norske oljeselskap ASA (10 per cent). The area in this licence consists of a 302 km2 sector of block 31/1 and a 166 km2 sector of block 31/2. The well will be drilled about 7.5 kilometres northwest of the Troll field.

Production licence 550 was awarded on 19 February 2010 (APA 2009). This is the first well to be drilled in the licence. The permit is contingent on the operator securing all other permits and consents required by other authorities before the drilling activity starts.