Norwegian oil company Statoil has received consent from the Petroleum Safety Authority (PSA) to drill an exploration well in the Norwegian Sea with the Deepsea Bergen drilling rig.
The well 6507/3-12 will be drilled in production license 159B, where Statoil is the operator, in block 6507/3, in the Norwegian Sea west of Sandnessjøen.
The Norwegian Sea prospect where the exploration well will be drilled is named Mim. The drilling location is around 8 kilometers south-west of Norne. Water depth at the site is 381 meters.
According to the safety authority, drilling is scheduled to begin in early January 2017 and will last 27 days. A possible sidetrack from the well will take a further 18 days.
The well is to be drilled by Deepsea Bergen, a semi-submersible drilling rig owned and operated by Odfjell Drilling.
Deepsea Bergen was recently awarded a contract with Faroe Petroleum, back to back with expiry of the current contract with Statoil. The rig is an Aker H-3 type, built in 1983. It is classified by DNV GL and registered in Norway.