Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) has granted a drilling permit to Equinor for well 31/11-1 S located in production licence 785 S in the North Sea.
Well 31/11-1 S is planned to be drilled using the Odfjell Drilling‘s Deepsea Atlantic deepwater and harsh environment semi-submersible.
The well will be drilled 62km south of the Troll field, which is located 65km west of Kollsnes offshore Bergen in the northern part of the Norwegian North Sea.
Equinor operates the production licence 785 S with a 50% stake while Total E&P Norge holds the remaining 50% interest.
The licence area, which consists of parts of blocks 26/2 and 31/11, was awarded to Equinor in February 2015 as part of Norway’s Awards in Predefined Areas 2014 (APA 2014) licensing round.
NPD said in a press statement: “The permit is contingent on the operator securing all other permits and consents required by other authorities prior to commencing the drilling activity.”
Last year, Equinor issued a letter of intent (LoI) to Odfjell Drilling to drill 15 wells on the Breidablikk field in the Norwegian North Sea, using sixth-generation semi-submersible drilling rig Deepsea Aberdeen.
The licence partners in Breidablikk include Equinor, Petoro, Vår Energi, and ConocoPhillips Skandinavia. Equinor serves as the field operator.
Breidablikk is located northeast of the Grane field in a water depth of 127m.
