Oil company Lundin Norway has started drilling of exploration well 7220/6-3 on the Børselv prospect in PL609 on the Loppa High in the southern Barents Sea.
The well is located on-trend north of the Alta and Neiden oil discoveries, approximately 18 km northwest of the Neiden discovery well.
Lundin said on Thursday that the main objective of the well is to test the reservoir properties and hydrocarbon potential of Permian-Carboniferous carbonate reservoirs. The Børselv prospect is estimated to contain gross unrisked prospective resources of 244 MMboe, the oil company stated.
The well will be drilled with the semi-submersible drilling rig Leiv Eiriksson and is expected to take approximately 35 days. Planned total depth for the well is approximately 1,300 meters.
Lundin received consent from the Petroleum Safety Authority (PSA) to drill the Børselv well using the Leiv Eiriksson drilling rig and a drilling permit from the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate in late June.
Lundin Norway is the operator of PL609 with a 40 percent working interest and its partners are DEA Norge and Idemitsu Petroleum Norge with 30 percent working interest each.