The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) has granted Norwegian oil major Statoil a drilling permit for a Gina Krog wildcat well offshore Norway.
The well, designated 15/6-14 S, will be drilled from the Maersk Integrator drilling rig, north of the Gina Krog field in the central part of the North Sea.
The NPD said on Friday that the drilling program for the well related to the drilling of a wildcat well in production license 029 C, but would be drilled as a part of the Gina Krog field.
The field has been developed with a production platform and an FSO, in water depths of 110-120 meters. The recoverable reserves for Gina Krog are 16.8 million standard cubic meters of oil, 11.8 billion standard cubic meters of gas, and 3.2 million tonnes of natural gas liquids.
Statoil Petroleum is the operator on Gina Krog with an ownership interest of 58.7 percent with Total E&P Norge, KUFPEC Norway, PGNiG Upstream Norway, and Aker BP holding 15, 15, 8, and 3.3 percent, respectively.
The area in the 029 C license consists of a part of block 15/6. The production license was awarded on October 17, 2012, after being carved out of PL 029, which was awarded in the 2nd licensing round in 1969.
This is the first wildcat well that has been drilled in the license, but three exploration wells have previously been drilled within the license area.
To remind, Statoil has already been given consent by the Petroleum Safety Authority to use the Maersk Integrator rig for the drilling of this well. The PSA said in mid-August that the 15/6-14 S well would be drilled as a sidetrack from the existing 15/6-B-2 well.
According to the PSA, the drilling is estimated to last 17 days in the event of a dry well and 25 days in the event of a discovery.
As far as the rig goes, the Maersk Integrator jack-up drilling rig was built and delivered by the Keppel Shipyard in Singapore in 2014. The rig was issued with an Acknowledgement of Compliance (AOC) by the PSA in June 2015 and will be operated by Maersk Drilling Norge.