Lundin Petroleum, an independent oil and gas exploration and production company, has started drilling of exploration well 7130/4-1 on the Ørnen prospect, in the Barents Sea, offshore Norway.
The well 7130/4-1 will explore the Ørnen prospect in PL708, located on the eastern parts of the Finnmark Platform in the southern Barents Sea.
Lundin obtained the permit from the Petroleum Safety Authority (PSA) Norway to use the Transocean Arctic semi-submersible drilling rig to drill the well at the end of September and a drilling permit from the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) in November.
Lundin says the reservoir is expected to consist of Upper Permian carbonates. The Ørnen prospect is estimated to contain gross unrisked prospective resources of 354 million barrels of oil equivalents (MMboe).
According to the company, the planned total depth is approximately 2,630 metres below mean sea level and the well will be drilled with the Transocean Artic rig. The drilling operation is expected to take approximately 60 days.
Lundin Norway is the operator of PL708 with a 40 percent working interest. The partners are Edison Norge with 20 percent, Lukoil Overseas North Shelf with 20 percent, Lime Petroleum Norway with 10 percent and North Energy with 10 percent.