Equinor has secured approval from the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) to begin drilling the well 66046604/5-2 S, which is located in the Norwegian Sea.
A press note from NPD said that the well 30/6-31 S will be drilled from the West Hercules drilling after concluding the drilling of wildcat well 31/5-7 for Equinor Energy AS in production license 001.
The drilling program for well 30/6-31 S relates to the drilling of a wildcat well in production license 053. Equinor Energy AS is the operator with an ownership interest of 49.3 percent.
The other licensees are Petoro AS (33.6 percent), Total E&P Norge AS (14.7 percent) and ConocoPhillips Scandinavia AS (2.4 percent).
The area in this license consists of block 30/6. The well will be drilled about 8 kilometers northeast of the Oseberg field center.
Production license 053 was awarded on 6 April 1979 in the 4th licensing round on the Norwegian shelf. This is the 31st exploration well to be drilled in the license.
The permit is contingent on the operator securing all other permits and consents required by other authorities prior to commencing the drilling activity.