Swedish oil and gas company Lundin Energy has spudded the Polmak well in the Barents Sea, offshore Norway, using the West Bollsta semi-submersible drilling rig.
A Lundin Energy spokesperson confirmed for Offshore Engineer that the Polmak well, in the Production License PL609, was spudded on October 10, 2020, four days after the rig received regulatory approval (AoC) to operate in Norway. The rig is owned by Northern Ocean, and managed by Seadrill.
This is the rig's first-ever well, and Polmak is the first of three high impact exploration prospects to be drilled by the company in the Barents Sea during the fourth quarter of 2020.
The three wells will be targeting gross unrisked prospective resources of over 800 MMbo.
The West Bollsta drilling rig, delivered in 2019, has a contract to drill 10 wells for Lundin in Norway, with 4 additional option wells available to Lundin.
The estimated backlog value for the firm period is approximately USD 200 million, excluding performance bonuses and additional services. Seadrill continues to manage and operate the rig from delivery through the contract term.
