The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) has granted ConocoPhillips a drilling permit for a wildcat well in the Norwegian Sea.
The well, designated 6507/5-10 S, will be drilled from the Leiv Eiriksson drilling rig. ConocoPhillips has already secured a safety consent from the country’s offshore safety watchdog to use the rig for this well.
NPD said that the drilling programme for the well relates to the drilling of a wildcat well in production licence 891. ConocoPhillips is the operator with an ownership interest of 80 per cent. The other licensee is Pandion Energy which holds the remaining 20 per cent.
The area in this licence consists of parts of blocks 6507/5, 6, and 8. The well will be drilled about 15 kilometres north of Heidrun.
Production licence 891 was awarded on 10 February 2017 (APA 2016). This is the first exploration well to be drilled in the licence.
According to the Petroleum Safety Authority, the well located in a water depth of 354 meters will take 47 days to complete.
The well will be drilled from the Leiv Eiriksson drilling rig after concluding the drilling of wildcat well 6507/4-1 for ConocoPhillips in production licence 1009.
The drilling programme for the well relates to the drilling of wildcat wells in production licence 1009. The company’s subsidiary, ConocoPhillips Skandinavia, is the operator with an ownership interest of 65 per cent. The other licensee is PGNiG with a 35 per cent stake.
The Leiv Eiriksson drilling rig moved on to the 6507/4-1 well after concluding the drilling of wildcat well for Spirit Energy near the Ivar Aasen field in production licence 780 in the central part of the North Sea. Drilling of the well was completed in early August with the well being classified as a dry well .
The 2001-built Leiv Eiriksson rig is under a $235,000 per day contract with ConocoPhillips until November 2020.