The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) has granted ConocoPhillips Skandinavia, a subsidiary of the U.S.-headquartered ConocoPhillips, a drilling permit for a wildcat well located in the Norwegian Sea.
The permit is for the well well /3-2, located inproduction licence 935, which was awarded on 2 March 2018 and is valid until 2 March 2026.
As the operator of the licence with an ownership interest of 40 per cent, ConocoPhillips Skandinavia was granted consent last week to use the Transocean Norge rig for exploration drilling inblock /3where the well is situated. Other licensees are Lundin Energy Norway (20 per cent), Petoro (20 per cent), and Petrolia NOCO (20 per cent).
The water depth at the site is 214 metres. The prospect – named Bounty – will be drilled approximately58 km southwest of the Njord field and 59 km northwest of Smøla.According to information from theNorwegian Environment Agency, there are some coral deposits in the area. The operation start-up is planned for 27 June 2022 and the duration is estimated at 34 days.
Built by Sembcorp Marine at the Jurong Shipyard (JSPL) in Singapore between 2012 and 2016, the Transocean Norge rig is owned and operated by Transocean and it received anAcknowledgement of Compliance (AoC)fromthe PSA in July 2019.
Transocean was awarded a contract forfour wells with five one-well optionsin June 2021 for theTransocean Norgerig. Based on the company’sfleet status reportfrom April, this contract started in March 2022 and is scheduled to end in September 2022.
When it comes to ConocoPhillips’ most recent activity in Norway, the energy giant handed over anotherextension for maintenance and modification workon its North Sea fields to Aker Solutions earlier this month.
