Norwegian oil major Statoil has received consent from the national offshore safety authority, the Petroleum Safety Authority Norway, to drill an exploration well in the Barents Sea using the Songa Enabler drilling rig.
The exploration well labelled 7317/9-1, located in production license 718 in the Barents Sea, will be drilled in a prospect named Koigen Central.
Statoil is the operator of the production license with a 60 percent interest. DEA Norge and Petoro are the licensees with a 20 percent interest each.
According to the PSA, drilling will begin in August 2017 at the earliest and is scheduled to last 32 days.
The well will be drilled using the Songa Enabler semi-submersible drilling rig, which is owned and operated by Songa Offshore.
This is the fourth well in Statoil’s Barents Sea campaign. Earlier this year, the Norwegian company announced plans to drill five wells in the Barents Sea during 2017.
The first of five, the Blåmann well, was spud on May 22 while Statoil reported that the second well, Kayak , struck oil. Last Monday, the PSA gave clearance to drill a wellbore in Gemini Nord .
Offshore Energy Today Staff