Norwegian oil and gas company Equinor has obtained regulatory approval for exploration drilling in the production license 263 D, located in the Norwegian Sea.
The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate said Wednesday it had granted a drilling permit for well 6407/1-8 S & A
"The drilling program for well 6407/1-8 S & A relates to the drilling of wildcat wells in production license 263 D," NPD said.
Earlier this month, Equinor received consent from the Petroleum Safety Authority Norway to carry out this drilling operation. PSA then said the drilling would test the prospect named Apolonia.
The well will be drilled about 9 kilometers east of the Maria field.
Water depth at the site is 295 meters. The drilling is expected to take 54 days to complete. Equinor, which is the operator of the block with an ownership interest of 80 percent, will use Seadrill's West Hercules semi-submersible drilling rig for the drilling operation. The other licensee in the block is Pandion Norge (20 percent).