The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) has granted MOL Norge, a Norwegian unit of the Hungarian oil company MOL, a drilling permit for a wildcat well in the North Sea.
The NPD said on Monday that the wildcat well, designated 3/7-11 S, would be drilled from the Rowan Viking drilling rig.
The drilling program for the well relates to the drilling of a wildcat well in production license 539 in the North Sea.
MOL Norge is the operator of the license with an ownership interest of 80 percent. Its partner in the license is Lundin which holds the remaining 20 percent.
The area in this permit consists of parts of block 3/7, and borders on the Danish shelf. The well will be drilled about 45 kilometers northeast of the Valhall field.
Production license 539 was awarded on February 19, 2010, in APA 2009. This is the second well to be drilled in the license.
Earlier this year, Rowan Viking also drilled a wildcat well in the North Sea offshore Norway for MOL. The well was dry .
It is also worth reminding that Rowan Companies in January won a contract for the Rowan Viking jack-up drilling rig with Lundin.
The jack-up was awarded a seven-well program for a minimum duration of 265 days expected to start in 2Q/3Q 2020 and has four additional one-well priced options.
As for the rig, the Rowan Viking is an N-Class ultra-harsh environment jack-up rig built in Singapore in 2010.