Norwegian energy company Equinor has received regulator consent to use Odfjell Drilling's Deepsea Atlantic semi-submersible drilling rig for production drilling on the Vigdis offshore field.
Vigdis is a field located in the Tampen area in the northern part of the North Sea, between the Snorre, Statfjord and Gullfaks fields.
The consent, granted to Equinor by the Petroleum Safety Authority Norway, applies to plugging and abandonment and production drilling.
The water depth in the area is 280 meters. Vigdis was discovered in 1986, and the plan for development and operation (PDO) was approved in 1994.
The field has been developed with seven subsea templates and two satellite wells connected to the Snorre A facility. Production started in 1997.
Odfjell Drilling's Deepsea Atlantic is a sixth generation deepwater and harsh environment semi-submersible. This unit, along with its sister rig Deepsea Stavanger and Deepsea Aberdeen, is a dual derrick, dynamic-positioned unit of enhanced GVA 7500 design.
The semi-submersible is designed for operations in harsh environments and at water depths of up to 3,000 m. It is equipped with a full conventional mooring spread for operations in water depths of 70 to 500 meters.
