The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) has granted Det norske oljeselskap a drilling permit for well 16/1-26 S, offshore Norway.
The well 16/1-26 S will be drilled from the Maersk Interceptor jack-up drilling rig in production licence 001 B, in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea.
The drilling programme for the 16/1-26 S well relates to the drilling of an appraisal well on the 16/1-7 oil discovery, which is part of the Ivar Aasen field where Det norske is the operator with an ownership interest of 34.7862 per cent.
The other licensees are Statoil Petroleum with 41.4730 per cent, Bayerngas Norge with 12.3173 per cent, Wintershall Norske with 6.4615 per cent, VNG Norge with 3.0230 per cent, Lundin Norway with 1.3850 per cent and OMV (Norge) with 0.5540 per cent.
The area in this licence consists of a part of block 16/1. The well was drilled in the eastern part of the 16/1-7 discovery in the central part of the North Sea.
Production licence 001 B was carved out of production licence 001 on September 1, 1999. Production licence 001 was awarded on September 1, 1965 (Round 1-A). This is the eleventh exploration well to be drilled within the licence area and the fifteenth well on the Ivar Aasen field.