Norwegian state-owned energy giant Equinor has received consent from Norway’s offshore safety regulator for exploration drillingin the Norwegian Sea, using one of Odfjell Drilling’s rigs.
The Petroleum Safety Authority Norway (PSA) revealed on Monday that it has given Equinor consent for exploration drilling in block /1 in the Norwegian Sea. This comes weeks after Equinor wasgranted a drilling permitfor wells/1-2 S and /1-2 Aby the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD).
The prospect,Obelix Upflank, is located inproduction licence 1128, which was originally awarded on 19 February 2021 and is valid until 19 February 2027. As the operator of the licence, Equinor holds an ownership interest of 70 per cent, while other licensees are Petoro (20 per cent) and Wintershall Dea Norge (10 per cent).
The water depth at the location is around 1,190 metres and the drilling of the wells /1-U-1, /1-2 S and /1-2 A is expected to start in November 2022 with theDeepsea Stavangerrig, which received anAcknowledgement of Compliance (AoC)fromthe PSA in April 2017.
The Deepsea Stavanger righas been workingfor Equinor on the NCSsince February 2022 thanks to a dealawarded in May 2021for a firm period of three wells. The Norwegian giant added additional wellsto the contract for this rig inSeptember 2021,March 2022,May 2022, at thestart of July 2022, and at theend of July. These wells are expected to keep the rig booked into the third quarter of 2023.
The 2010-builtDeepsea Stavangerrig is a sixth-generation deepwater and harsh environment semi-submersible of an enhanced GVA 7500 design. It was designed for operations at water depths of up to 3,000 metres and has a 7,500 mt loading capacity.
