Statoil has been approved to use newbuild Cat D semisubmersible drilling rig Songa Enabler to drill three wells - two production and one CO2 reinjection - at the Snøhvit gas field in the Barents Sea.
Snøhvit started production in 2007 via a subsea development, with gas transported by pipeline 143km to shore at Melkøya, off Hammerfest.
Gas from the field contains CO2, which is separated out at Melkøya and sent back to the field for reinjection.
Drilling was due to start late July at two well templates in about 320m water depth, according to the Petroleum Safety Authority (PSA).
Songa Enabler was delivered by the Daewoo yard in South Korea in 2016. It was the fourth and final rig in a string of newbuilds built by Songa Offshore for use by Statoil in Norway. Songa Enabler was issued with an acknowledgement of compliance by the PSA in July 2016.