Repsol Norge, a Norwegian subsidiary of the Spanish oil company Repsol, has received consent from the Petroleum Safety Authority (PSA) to drill an exploration well in the Norwegian Sea with the Transocean Spitsbergen rig.
Repsol Norge is the operator for production license 705 in the Norwegian Sea where the well 6705/7-1 will be drilled. The PSA has given Repsol consent to drill the exploration well in a prospect named Stordal.
The oil company was also recently given a drilling permit from the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) to drill this exploration well.
The drilling site is in the deep-water section of the Norwegian Sea, around 395 kilometers west of Bodø. Water depth at the site is 1410 meters.
Drilling is scheduled to start in early March and to last 33 days, or 48 days if a discovery is made.
The well is to be drilled by Transocean Spitsbergen, which is a semi-submersible drilling rig of the Aker H-6e type, owned and operated by Transocean.
It was built at the Aker Stord yard in 2009, registered in the Marshall Islands and classified by DNV GL.
Transocean Spitsbergen received a new Acknowledgement of Compliance from the PSA in November 2012 following a change of ownership.